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FUNERAL GAMES Copyright © 1981 by Mary Renault the ziggurat of bel-marduk
had been half ruinous for a century and a half, ever since Xerxes had humbled
the gods of rebellious Babylon. The edges of its terraces had crumbled in
landslides of bitumen and baked brick; storks nested on its ragged top, which
had once held the god's golden bedchamber and his sacred concubine in his
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golden bed. But this was only defacement; the ziggurat's huge bulk had defined
destruction. The walls of the inner city by the Marduk Gate were three hundred
feet high, but the ziggurat still towered over them. Near by was the god's
temple; this Xerxes' men had succeeded in half demolishing. The rest of the
roof was patched with thatch, and propped on shafts of rough-hewn timber. At
the inner end, where the columns were faced with splendid but chipped enamels,
there was still a venerable gloom, a smell of incense and burnt offerings. On
an altar of porphyry,. under a smoke-duct open to the sky, burned in its
bronze basket the sacred fire. It was low; the fuel-box was empty. Its shaven
acolyte looked from it to the priest. Abstracted though he was, it caught his
eye. "Fetch fuel. What are you about? Must a king die when it serves your
laziness? Move! You were got when your mother was asleep and snoring." The
acolyte made a sketchy obeisance; the temple discipline was not strict. The
priest said, after him, "It will not be yet. Maybe not even today. He is tough
as a mountain lion, he will die hard." Two tall shadows fell at the temple's
open end. The priests who entered wore the high felt miters of Chaldeans. They
approached the altar with ritual gestures, bowing with hand on mouth. The
priest of Marduk said, "Nothing yet?" "No," said the first Chaldean. "But it
will be soon. He cannot speak; indeed he can scarcely breathe. But when his
homeland soldiers made a clamor at the doors, demanding to see him, he had
them all admitted. Not the commanders; they were there already. The
spear-bearers, the common foot-men. They were half the morning passing through
his bedchamber, and he greeted them all by signs. That finished him, and now
he is in the death-sleep. A door behind the altar opened to let in two Marduk
priests. It gave a glimpse of a rich ulterior; embroidered hangings, a gleam
of gold. There was a smell of spiced meats cooking. The door closed on
it. The Chaldeans, reminded of an old scandal, exchanged glances. One of them
said, "We did our best to turn him from the city. But he had heard that the
temple had not been restored; and he thought we were afraid of him." A Marduk
priest said stiffly, "The year has not been auspicious for great works.
Nebuchadrezzar built in an inauspicious year. His foreign slaves rioted race
against race, and threw each other off the tower. As for Sikandar, he would
still be fortunate, sitting safe in Susa, if he had not defied the god." One
of the Chaldeans said, "It seems to me he did well enough by the god, for all
that he called him Herakles." He looked round, pointedly, at the half-ruined
building. He might as well have said aloud, "Where is the gold the King gave
you to rebuild, have you eaten and drunk it all?" There was a hostile
silence. The chief of the Marduk priests said, with emollient dignity,
"Certainly you gave him a true prediction. And since then have you read the
heavens?" The tall miters bent together in slow assent. The oldest Chaldean,
whose beard was silver against his dark face and purple robe, signed to the
Marduk priest, beckoning him to the broken end of the temple. "This," he said,
"is what is foretold for Babylon." He swept round his gold-starred wand,
taking in the crumbling walls, the threadbare roof, the leaning timber-props,
the fire-stained paving. "This for a while, and then... Babylon was." He
walked towards the entry and stood to listen; but the night noises were
unchanged. "The heavens say it begins with the death of the King." The priest
remembered the shining youth who, eight years before, had come offering
treasure and Arabian incense; and the man who had returned this year,
weathered and scarred, the red-gold hair sun-bleached and streaked with white;
but with the deep eyes still burning, still ready with the careless, reflex
charm of the youth beloved, still terrible in anger. The scent of the incense
had lasted long on the air, the gold much longer in the treasury; even among
men who liked good living, half was in the strongroom still. But for the
priest of Bel-Marduk the pleasure had drained out of it. It spoke now of
flames and blood. His spirit sank like the altar fire when the fuel was
low. "Shall we see it? Will a new Xerxes come?" The Chaldean shook his head.
"A dying, not a killing. Another city will rise and ours will wane. It is
under the sign of the King." "What? Will he live, then, after all?" "He is
dying, as I told you. But his sign is walking along the constellations,
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further than we can reckon in years. You will not see it setting in your
day." "So? Well, in his life he did us no harm. Maybe he will spare us
dead." The astrologer frowned to himself, like an adult seeking words to
reach a child. "Remember, last year, the fire that fell from heaven. We heard
where it fell, and went there, a week's journey. It had lit the city brighter
than full moon. But we found, where it had struck, it had broken into red-hot
embers, which had charred the earth around them. One had been set up by a
farmer in his house, because that day his wife bore twin sons. But a neighbor
had stolen it for its power; they fought, and both men died. Another piece
fell at a dumb child's feet, and speech came back to him. A third had kindled
a fire that destroyed a forest. But the Magus of the place had taken the
greatest piece, and built it into the fire-altar, because of its great light
while it was in the sky. And all this from the one star. So it will be." The
priest bowed his head. A fragrance drifted to him from the precinct's kitchen.
Better to invite the Chaldeans than let the meat spoil with waiting. Whatever
the stars said, good food was good food. The old Chaldean said, looking into
the shadows, "Here where we stand, the leopard will rear her young." The
priest made a decent pause. No sound from the royal palace. With luck, they
might get something to eat before they heard the wailing. The walls of
Nebuchadrezzar's palace were four feet thick, and faced with blue-glazed tiles
for coolness; but the mid-summer heat seeped in through everything. The sweat
running down Eumenes' wrist blotted the ink on his papyrus. The wax glistened
moistly on the tablet he was fair-copying; he plunged it back into the
cold-water tub where his clerk had left it, with the other drafts, to keep the
surface set. Local scribes used wet clay; but that would have set hard before
one could revise on it. For the third time he went to the doorway, seeking a
slave to pull the punkah cord. Once again the dim hushed noises-soft feet,
soft voices furtive or awed or grieving-sent him back behind the drawn
door-curtain to his listless task. To clap the hands, to call, to shout an
order, were all unthinkable. He had not sought his clerk, a garrulous man;
but he could have done with the silent slave and the waft of the punkah. He
scanned the unfinished scroll pinned to his writing-board. It was twenty years
since he had written with his own hand any letter not of high secrecy; why now
was he writing one that would never go, short of a miracle? There had been
many miracles; but, surely, not now. It was something to do, it shut out the
unknown future. Sitting down again he retrieved the tablet, propped it, dried
his hand on the towel the clerk had left, and picked up his pen. And the
ships commanded by Niarchos will muster at the river-mouth, where I shall
review them while Perdikkas is bringing the army down from Babylon; and
sacrifices will be made there to the appropriate gods. I shall then take
command of the land force and begin the march to the west. The first
stage... When he was five, before he'd been taught to write, he came to me in
the King's business room. "What's that, Eumenes?" "A letter." "What's the
first word that you've written big?" "Your father's name PHILIP, king of the
Macedonians. Now I'm busy, run back to your play." "Make me my name. Do, dear
Eumenes. Please." I gave it him written, on the back of a spoiled despatch.
Next day he'd learned it, and carved it all over the wax for a royal letter to
Kersobleptes of Thrace. He had my ruler across his palm... Because of the
heat he had left open his massive door. A brisk stride, half hushed like all
other sounds, approached it. Ptolemy pushed aside the curtain and drew it to
behind him. His craggy war-weathered face was creased with fatigue; he had
been up all night, without the stimulus of action. He was forty-three, and
looked older. Eumenes waited, wordlessly. "He has given his ring to
Perdikkas," Ptolemy said. There was a pause. Eumenes' alert Greek face-not a
bookish one, he had had his share of soldiering- searched the impassive
Macedonian's. "For what? As deputy? Or as Regent?" "Since he could not
speak," said Ptolemy drily, "we shall never know." "If he has accepted
death," Eumenes reasoned, "we may presume the second. If not...?" "It's all
one, now. He neither sees nor hears. He is in the death-sleep." "Do not be
sure. I have heard of men who were thought already dead, and who said later
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that they heard everything." Ptolemy suppressed an impatient gesture. These
wordy Greeks. Or what is he afraid of? "I came because you and I have known
him since he was born. Don't you want to be there?" "Do the Macedonians want
me there?" An ancient bitterness pinched, for a moment, Eumenes' mouth. "Oh,
come. Everyone trusts you. We shall need you before long." Slowly the
Secretary began to put his desk in order. He said, wiping his pen, "And
nothing, to the last, about an heir?" "Perdikkas asked him, while he could
still get a whisper out. He only said, 'To the best man. Hoti to
kratisto.'" Eumenes thought, They say dying men can prophesy. He
shivered. "Or," Ptolemy added, "so Perdikkas told us. He was leaning over.
Nobody else could hear." Eumenes put down the pen and looked up sharply. "Or
Kratero? You say he whispered, he was short of breath." They looked at one
another. Krateros, the highest-ranking of all Alexander's staff, was on the
march to Macedon, to take over the regency from Antipatros. "If he'd been in
the room..." Ptolemy shrugged. "Who knows?" To himself he thought, If
Hephaistion had been there... But if he’d lived, none of this would have
happened. He'd have done none of the crazy things he's dying of. Coming to
Babylon in midsummer-boating about in the filthy swamps down river... But one
did not discuss Hephaistion with Eumenes. "This door weighs like an elephant.
Do you want it shut?" Pausing on the threshold, Eumenes said, "Nothing about
Roxane and the child? Nothing?" "Four months to go. And what if it's a
girl?" They moved into the shadowy corridor, tall big-boned Macedonian and
slender Greek. A young Macedonian officer came blundering towards them, almost
ran into Ptolemy, and stammered an apology. Ptolemy said, "Is there any
change?" "No, sir, I don't think so." He swallowed violently; they saw that
he was crying. When he had gone, Ptolemy said, "That boy believes in it. I
can't yet." "Well, let us go." "Wait." Ptolemy took his arm, led him back
into the room, and dragged-to the great ebony door on its groaning hinges.
"I'd best tell you this while we've time. You should have known before,
but..." "Yes, yes?" said Eumenes impatiently. He had quarreled with
Hephaistion shortly before he died, and Alexander had never been easy with him
since. Ptolemy said, "Stateira is pregnant, too." Eumenes, who had been
fidgeting to be gone, was struck into stillness. "You mean Darius'
daughter?" "Who else do you suppose? She is Alexander's wife." "But this
changes everything. When did... ?” "Don't you remember? No, or course, you'd
gone on to Babylon. When he came to himself after Hephaistion died" (one could
not avoid the name forever)" he went to war with the Kossaians. My doing; I
told him they'd demanded road-toll, and got him angry. He needed to be doing
something. It did him good. When he'd dealt with them, and was heading here,
he stopped a week at Susa, to call upon Sisygambis." "That old witch," said
Eumenes bitterly. But for her, he thought, the King's friends would never have
been saddled with Persian wives. The mass wedding at Susa had gone by like
some drama of superhuman magnificence, till suddenly he had found himself
alone in a scented pavilion, in bed with a Persian noblewoman whose unguents
repelled him, and whose only Greek consisted of "Greeting, my lord." "A great
lady," said Ptolemy. "A pity his mother was not like her. She would have had
him married before he set out from Macedon, and seen that he got a son. He
could have had an heir of fourteen by this time. She'd not have sickened him
with marriage while he was a child. Whose fault was it that he wasn't ready
for a woman till he met the Bactrian?" Thus, unofficially, did most
Macedonians refer to Roxane. "Done is done. But Stateira... Does Perdikkas
know?" "That's why he asked him to name his heir." "And still he would
not?" " 'To the best,' he said. He left it to us, to the Macedonians, to
choose when they came of age. Yes, he's a Macedonian at the last." "If they
are boys," Eumenes reminded him. Ptolemy, who had been withdrawn into his
thought, said, "And if they come of age." Eumenes said nothing. They went
down the dim corridor with its blue-tiled walls towards the
death-chamber. Nebuchadrezzar's bedroom, once ponderously Assyrian, had been
Persianized by successive kings from Kyros on. Kambyses had hung its walls
with the trophies of conquered Egypt; Darius the Great had sheathed its
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columns with gold and malachite; Xerxes had pegged across one side the
embroidered robe of Athene, looted from the Parthenon. The second Artaxerxes
had sent for craftsmen of Persepolis to make the great bed in which Alexander
now lay dying. Its dais was covered with crimson tapestries worked in
bullion. The bed was nine feet by six; Darius the Third, a man seven feet
tall, had had ample room. The high canopy was upheld by four golden
fire-daimons with silver wings and jeweled eyes. Propped on heaped pillows to
help him breathe, and looking small among all these splendors, the dying man
lay naked. A thin linen sheet had been spread half over him when he had ceased
to toss about and throw it off. Damp with sweat, it clung to him as if
sculpted. In a monotonous cycle, his shallow rattling breath grew gradually
louder, then ceased. After a pause during which no other breath was drawn in
the crowded room, it started again, slowly, the same crescendo. Until lately
there had been scarcely another sound. Now that he had ceased responding to
voice or touch, a soft muttering began to spread, too cautious and muted to be
located; a ground-bass to the strong rhythm of death. Perdikkas by the bed's
head lifted at Ptolemy his dark heavy eyebrows; a tall man, with the
Macedonian build but not the coloring, and a face on which authority, long
habitual, was growing. His silent gesture of the head signaled "No change
yet." The movement of a peacock fan drew Ptolemy's eye across the bed. There,
as he had been for days, seemingly without sleep, seated on the dais was the
Persian boy. So Ptolemy still thought of him though by now he must be
three-and-twenty; with eunuchs it was hard to tell. At sixteen, he had been
brought to Alexander by a Persian general involved in Darius' murder, to give
exonerating evidence. This he was well placed to do, having been the King's
minion, with inside knowledge of the court. He had stayed on to give his story
to the chroniclers, and had never been far from Alexander since. Not much was
on view today of the famous beauty which had dazzled two kings running. The
great dark eyes were sunk in a face more drawn than the fever-wasted one on
the pillows. He was dressed like a servant; did he think that if he was
noticed he would be turned out? What does he think, Ptolemy wondered. He must
have lain with Darius in this very bed. A fly hovered over Alexander's
sweat-glazed forehead. The Persian chased it off, then put down the fan to dip
a towel in a basin of mint-scented water, and wiped the unmoving face. At
first Ptolemy had disliked this exotic presence haunting Alexander's
living-quarters, encouraging him to assume the trappings of Persian royalty
and the manners of a Persian court, having his ear day and night. But he was a
fixture one had grown used to. Through Ptolemy's own grief and sense of
looming crisis, he felt a stir of pity. Walking over, he touched him on the
shoulder. "Get some rest, Bagoas. Let one of the other chamberlains do all
this." A knot of court eunuchs, ageing relicts of Darius and even of Ochos,
advanced officiously. Ptolemy said, "He won't know now, you know." Bagoas
looked round. It was as if he had been told he was condemned to immediate
execution, a sentence long expected. "Never mind," said Ptolemy gently. "It's
your right; stay if you wish." Bagoas touched his fingers to his forehead.
The interruption was over. With his eyes fixed once more on the closed eyes of
Alexander, he waved the fan, shifting the hot Babylonian air. He had staying
power, Ptolemy reflected. He had weathered even the brainstorm after
Hephaistion's death. Against the wall nearest the bed, on a massive table
like an altar, Hephaistion was still enshrined. Enshrined and multiplied; here
were the votive statuettes and busts presented by condolent friends, assiduous
place-seekers, scared men who had once had words with the dead; commissioned
by the best artists found at short notice, to comfort Alexander's grief.
Hephaistion stood in bronze, a nude Ares with shield and spear; precious in
gold armor with ivory face and limbs; in tinted marble with a gilded laurel
crown; as a silver battle-standard for the squadron which was to bear his
name; and as a demigod, the first maquette for the cult-statue of his temple
in Alexandria. Someone had cleared a space to put down some sickroom object,
and a small Hephaistion in gilded bronze had fallen over. With a quick glance
at the blind face on the pillows, Ptolemy set it up again. Let them wait till
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he's gone. The small sound drew Eumenes' eye, which quickly looked away
again. Ptolemy thought, You've nothing to fear now, have you? Oh yes, he
could be arrogant now and then. Towards the end, he thought he was the only
one who understood-and how far was he wrong? Accept it, Eumenes, he was good
for Alexander. I knew when they were boys at school. He was somebody in
himself and both of them knew it. That pride you didn't like was Alexander's
salvation; never fawning, never pushing, never envious, never false. He loved
Alexander and never used him, kept pace with him at Aristotle's lessons, never
on purpose lost a match to him. To the end of his days he could talk to
Alexander man to man, could tell him he was wrong, and never for a moment
feared him. He saved him from solitude, and who knows what else? Now he's
gone, and this is what we have. If he were alive, we'd all be feasting today
in Susa, whatever the Chaldeans say. A frightened physician, pushed from
behind by Perdikkas, laid a hand on Alexander's brow, fingered his wrist,
muttered gravely and backed away. As long as he could speak, Alexander had
refused to have a doctor near him; and even when he was light-headed, none
could be found to physic him, lest they should later be accused of having
given him poison. It was all one now; he was no longer swallowing. Curse that
fool quack, Ptolemy thought, who let Hephaistion die while he went off to the
games. I'd hang him again if I could. It had long seemed that when the harsh
breathing changed, it could only be for the death-rattle. But as if the
doctor's touch had stirred a flicker of life, the stridor took a more even
rhythm, and the eyelids were seen to move. Ptolemy and Perdikkas each took a
step forward. But the self-effacing Persian by the bed, whom everyone had
forgotten, put down the fan and, as if now one else were in sight, leaned
intimately over the pillowed head, his long light-brown hair falling around
it. He whispered softly. Alexander's grey eyes opened. Something disturbed the
silky cloak of hair. Perdikkas said, "He moved his hand." It was still now,
the eyes shut again, though Bagoas, as if transfixed, was still gazing down at
them. Perdikkas' mouth tightened; all lands of people were here. But before he
could walk up with a reprimand, the Persian had resumed his station and picked
up his fan. But for its movement, he could have been a statue carved from
ivory. Ptolemy became aware of Eumenes speaking to him. "What?" he said
harshly. He was near to tears. "Peukestes is coming." The huddled
functionaries parted to admit a tall well-built Macedonian dressed as a
Persian, even-to most of his countrymen's shocked disapproval-down to the
trousers. When given the satrapy of Persis he had adopted the native dress to
please Alexander, not unaware that it suited him. He strode forward, his eyes
on the bed. Perdikkas advanced to meet him. There was a low buzz of talk. The
eyes of the two men exchanged their message. Perdikkas said formally, for the
benefit of the company, "Did you receive an oracle from Sarapis?" Peukestes
bowed his head. "We kept the night-watch. The god said at dawn, 'Do not bring
the King to the temple. It will be better for him where he is.'" No, thought
Eumenes, there will be no more miracles. For a moment, when the hand had
moved, he had almost believed in another. He turned round looking for
Ptolemy; but he had gone off somewhere to put his face in order. It was
Peukestes who, coming away from the bedside, said to him, "Does Roxane
know?" The palace harem was a spacious cloister built around a lily-pond.
Here too were hushed voices, but differently pitched; the few men in this
female world were eunuchs. None of the women whose home the harem was had set
eyes on the dying King. They had heard well of him; they had been kept by him
in comfort and unmolested; they had awaited a visit that never came. And that
was all, except that they knew of no male heir who would inherit them; in a
little while there would even, it seemed, be no Great King. The voices were
muted with secretive fear. Here were all the women Darius had left behind him
when he marched to his fate at Gaugamela. His favorites, of course, he had
taken with him; those who remained were something of a mixture. His older
concubines, from his days as a nobleman unplaced in line for the throne, had
long been installed at Susa; here were girls found for him after his
accession, who had failed to retain his interest, or had come too late to be
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noticed by him at all. As well as all these, there were the survivors of King
Ochos' harem, who could not in decency be put out of doors when he died. An
unwelcome legacy, they formed with one or two old eunuchs a little clique of
their own, hating the women of Darius, that usurper they suspected of
complicity in their master's death. For Darius' concubines it was another
matter. When brought there they had been fourteen, fifteen, eighteen at most.
They had known the real drama of the harem; the rumors and intrigues; the
bribery to get first news of a royal visit; the long intricacies of the
toilet, the inspired placing of a jewel; the envious despair when the
menstrual days enforced retirement; the triumph when a summons was received in
a rival's presence; the gift of honor after a successful night From a few
such nights had come one or two little girls of eight or so, who were dabbling
in the pool and telling each other solemnly that the King was dying. There had
been boys too. When Darius fell, they had been spirited away with every kind
of stratagem, their mothers taking it for granted that the new, barbarian King
would have them strangled. Nobody, however, had come looking for them; they
had returned in time and now, being of an age to be brought out from among
women, were being reared as men by distant kindred. With the long absence of
any King from Babylon, the harem had grown slack. At Susa, where Sisygambis
the Queen Mother lived, everything was impeccable. But here they had seen
little even of Darius, nothing of Alexander. One or two of the women had
managed to intrigue with men from outside and run away with them; the eunuchs,
whom Ochos would have impaled for negligence, had kept it quiet. Some girls in
the long idle days had had affairs with one another; the resulting jealousies
and scenes had enlivened many hot Assyrian nights. One girl had been poisoned
by a rival; but that too had been hushed up. The Chief Warden had taken to
smoking hemp, and disliked being disturbed. Then, after years in the unknown
east, after legendary victories, wounds, perils in deserts, the King sent word
of his return. The harem had aroused itself as if from sleep. The eunuchs had
fussed. All through the winter, the Babylonian season of gentle warmth, when
feasts were held, he was expected but did not come. Rumor reached the palace
that a boyhood friend had died-some said a lover-and it had sent him mad. Then
he had come to himself, but was at war with the mountain Kossaians. The harem
slipped back into its lethargy. At last he was on his way, but had broken his
march at Susa. Setting out again, he had been met by embassies from all the
peoples of the earth, bringing him golden crowns and asking him for counsel.
Then, when late spring was heating up for summer, the earth had shaken under
the horses and the chariots, the elephants and the marching men; and the
palace had seethed with the long-forgotten bustle of a king's arrival. Next
day, it was announced that the King's Chief Eunuch of the Bedchamber would
inspect the harem. This formidable person was awaited with dread; but turned
out, shockingly, to be little more than a youth, none other than the notorious
Bagoas, minion of two kings. Not that he failed to impress. He was wearing
silk, stuff never seen within those walls, and shimmered like a peacock's
breast. He was Persian to his fingertips, which always made Babylonians feel
provincial; and ten years at courts had polished his manners like old silver.
He greeted without embarrassment any eunuchs he had met in Darius' day, and
bowed respectfully to some of the older ladies. Then he came to business. He
could not say when the King's urgent concerns would give him leisure to visit
the harem; no doubt he would find in any case the perfect order which declares
respect. One or two shortcomings were obliquely hinted at ("I believe the
custom is so-and-so at Susa") but the past was left unprobed. The wardens were
concealing sighs of relief, when he asked to see the rooms of the royal
ladies. They led him through. These rooms of state were secluded from the
rest, and had their own courtyard, exquisitely tiled. There had been some
dismay at their abandoned state, the dry plants and withered creepers, the
clogged fountain with green scum and dead fish. All this had been seen to, but
the rooms still had the dank smell of long disuse. Silently, just opening his
delicate nostrils, Bagoas indicated this. The rooms of the Royal Wife,
despite neglect, were still luxurious; Darius, though self-indulgent, had been
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generous too. They led him on to the smaller, but still handsome rooms for the
Queen Mother. Sisygambis had stayed here in an early year of her son's short
reign. Bagoas looked them over, his head tilted slightly sideways.
Unconsciously, over the years, he had picked up this tic from
Alexander. "Very pleasant," he said. "At any rate it can be made so. As you
know, the lady Roxane is on her way here from Ekbatana. The King is anxious
that she should have an easy journey." The eunuchs pricked up their ears;
Roxane's pregnancy was not yet public news. "She will be here in about seven
days. I will order some things, and send in good craftsmen. Please see they do
all they should. In a speaking pause, the eunuchs' eyes turned towards the
rooms of the Royal Wife. Those of Bagoas followed them,
inexpressively. "Those rooms will be closed at present. Just see they are
well aired and kept sweet. You have a key for the outer door? Good." No one
said anything. He added, blandly, "There is no need to show these rooms to the
lady Roxane. If she should ask, say they are in disrepair." He left politely,
as he had come. At the time, they had decided that Bagoas must have some old
score to pay. Favorites and wives were traditional antagonists. The rumor ran
that early in her marriage Roxane had tried to poison him, but had never again
tried anything, so dreadful had been the anger of the King. The furniture and
hangings now sent in were costly, and the finished rooms lacked nothing of
royal splendor. "Don't be afraid of extravagance," Bagoas had said. "That is
to her taste." Her caravan duly arrived from Ekbatana. Handed down the steps
of her traveling-wagon she had proved to be a young woman of striking,
high-nosed beauty, with blue-black hair and dark brilliant eyes. Her pregnancy
hardly showed except in opulent softness. She spoke fluent Persian, though
with a Bactrian accent which her Bactrian suite did nothing to correct; and
had gained a fair command of Greek, a tongue unknown to her before her
marriage. Babylon was as foreign to her as India; she had settled without
demur in the rooms prepared for her, remarking that they were smaller than
those at Ekbatana, but much prettier. They had their own small courtyard,
elegant and shady. Darius, who had held his mother in awe as well as in
esteem, had always been attentive to her comfort. Next day a chamberlain,
this time of venerable age, announced the King. The eunuchs waited anxiously.
What if Bagoas had acted without authority? The King's anger was said to be
rare, but terrible. However, he greeted them courteously in his scanty, formal
Persian, and made no comment when shown to Roxane's rooms. Through chinks and
crannies known in the harem since the days of Nebuchadrezzar, the younger
concubines glimpsed him on his way. They reported him handsome in countenance,
for a westerner at least (fair coloring was not admired in Babylon); and he
was not tall, a grave defect, but this they had known already. Surely he must
be older than thirty-two, for his hair had grey in it; but they owned that he
had presence, and awaited his return to see him again. They expected a lengthy
vigil; but he was back in barely the time it would take a careful woman to
bathe and dress. This made the younger ladies hopeful. They cleaned their
jewels and reviewed their cosmetics. One or two, who from boredom had let
themselves get grossly fat, were derided and cried all day. For a week, each
morning dawned full of promise. But the King did not come. Instead, Bagoas
reappeared, and conferred in private with the Chief Warden. The heavy door of
the Royal Wife's room was opened, and they went inside. "Yes," said Bagoas.
"Not much is needed here. Just there, and there, fresh hangings. The
toilet-vessels will be in the treasury?" Thankfully (they had tempted him
more than once) the Warden sent for them; they were exquisite, silver inlaid
with gold. A great clothes-chest of cypress-wood stood against the wall.
Bagoas raised the lid; there was a drift of faded fragrance. He lifted out a
scarf stitched with seed-pearls and small gold beads. "These, I suppose, were
Queen Stateira's?" "Those she did not take with her. Darius thought nothing
too good for her." Except his life, each thought in the awkward pause. His
flight at Issos had left her to end her days under the protection of his
enemy. Under the scarf was a veil edged with green scarab-wings from Egypt.
Bagoas fingered it gently. "I never saw her. The loveliest woman of mortal
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birth in Asia-was that true?" "Who has seen every woman in Asia? Yes, it well
may be." "At least I have seen her daughter." He put back the scarf and
closed the chest. "Leave all these things. The lady Stateira will like to have
them." "Has she set out from Susa yet?" A different question trembled on the
Warden's lips. Bagoas, well aware of it, said deliberately, "She will be
coming when the worst of the heat is over. The King is anxious she should have
an easy journey." The Warden caught a sharp breath. Fat old chamberlain and
slender glittering favorite, their eyes exchanged the immemorial communication
of their kind. It was the Warden who spoke first. "So far, everything has
gone smoothly there." He glanced towards the other set of rooms. "But as soon
as these apartments are opened, there will be talk. There is no preventing
it. You know that as well as I do. Does the King intend to tell the lady
Roxane?" For a moment, Bagoas' urbane polish cracked, revealing a deep
settled grief. He sealed it off again. "I will remind him if I can. It is not
easy just now. He is planning the funeral of his friend Hephaistion, who died
at Ekbatana." The Warden would have liked to ask if it was true that this
death had sent the King out of his mind for a month or more. But Bagoas'
polish had hardened, warningly. Quickly the Warden smoothed away curiosity.
They said of Bagoas that, if he chose, he could be the most dangerous man at
court. "In that case," said the Warden carefully, "we might delay the work
for a while? If I am asked questions, without any sanction from the King...
?" Bagoas paused, looking for a moment uncertain and still quite young. But
he answered crisply, "No, we have had our orders. He will expect to find them
obeyed." He left, and did not return. It was reported in the harem that the
funeral of the King's friend surpassed that of Queen Semiramis, renowned in
story; that the pyre had been a burning ziggurat two hundred feet high. But,
said the Warden to anyone who would listen, that was a little fire to the one
he had had to face when the Royal Wife's rooms were opened, and news reached
the lady Roxane. At her mountain home in Bactria, the harem eunuchs had been
family servants and slaves, who knew their place. The ancient dignities of the
palace chamberlains seemed to her mere insolence. When she ordered the Warden
a flogging, she was enraged to find no one empowered to inflict it. The old
Bactrian eunuch she had brought from home, despatched to tell the King,
reported that he had taken a flotilla down the Euphrates to explore the
swamps. When he got back she tried again; first he was busy, and then he was
indisposed. Her father, she was sure, would have seen to it that the Warden
was put to death. But the satrapy conferred on him by the King was on the
Indian frontier; by the time she could hear back from him, her son would have
been born. The thought appeased her. She said to her Bactrian ladies, "Let her
come, this great tall flagpole from Susa. The King cannot abide her. If he
must do this to please the Persians, what is that to me? Everyone knows that I
am his real wife, the mother of his son." The ladies said in secret, "I would
not be that child, if it is a girl." The King did not come, and Roxane's days
hung heavy. Here, at what was to be the center of her husband's empire, she
might as well be encamped in Drangjana. She could, if she wished, have
entertained the concubines. But these women had been living for years in royal
palaces, some of them since she had been a child on her father's mountain
crag. She thought with dread of assured Persian elegance, sophisticated talk
tossed spitefully over her head. Not one had crossed her threshold; she had
rather be thought haughty than afraid. One day however she found one of the
ancient crannies; it passed the time to lay an ear to it and hear them
talking. So it was that, when Alexander had been nine days down with
marsh-fever, she heard a palace chamberlain gossiping with a harem eunuch.
From this she learned two things: that the sickness had flown to the King's
chest, and he was like to die; and that the daughter of Darius was with
child. She did not pause, even to hear them out. She called her Bactrian
eunuch and her ladies, threw on a veil, brushed past the stunned Nubian giant
who guarded the harem, and only answered his shrill cries with, "I must see
the King." The palace eunuchs came running. They could do nothing but run
after her. She was the King's wife, not a captive; she stayed in the harem
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only because to leave it was unthinkable. On the long marches, out to India
and back to Persia and down to Babylon, wherever the King pitched camp her
baggage wagons had unpacked the wicker screens which had made her a traveling
courtyard, so that she could leave her covered wagon and take the air. In the
cities she had her curtained litter, her latticed balconies. All this was not
her sentence but her right; it was only whores whom men displayed. Now, when
the unprecedented happened, to lay hands on her was inconceivable. Guided by
her trembling eunuch, her progress followed by astonished eyes, she swept
through corridors, courtyards, anterooms, till she reached the Bedchamber. It
was the first time she had entered it; or, for that matter, his own
sleeping-place anywhere else. He had never summoned her to his bed, only gone
to hers. It was the custom of the Greeks, so he had told her. She paused in
the tall doorway, seeing the high cedar ceiling, the daimon-guarded bed. It
was like a hall of audience. Generals, physicians, chamberlains, stupid with
surprise, stood back as she made her way to him. The heaped pillows that
propped him upright gave him still the illusion of authority. His closed eyes,
his parted and gasping mouth, seemed like a willed withdrawal. She could not
be in his presence without believing that everything was still under his
control. "Sikandar!" she cried, slipping back into her native dialect.
"Sikandar!" His eyelids, creased and bloodless in sunken sockets, moved
faintly but did not open. The thin skin tightened, as if to shut out a harsh
glare of sun. She saw that his lips were cracked and dry; the deep scar in his
side, from the wound he had got in India, stretched and shrank with his
laboring breath. "Sikandar, Sikandar!" she cried aloud. She grasped him by
the arm. He took a deeper breath, and choked on it. Someone leaned over with
a towel, and wiped bloody froth from his lips. He did not open his eyes. As
if she had known nothing till now, a cold dagger of realization stabbed her.
He was gone out of reach; he would no longer direct her journeys. He would
decide nothing, ever again; would never tell her what she had come to ask. For
her, for the child within her, he was already dead. She began to wail, like a
mourner over a bier, clawing her face, beating her breast, tearing at her
clothes, shaking her disheveled hair. She flung herself forward, her arms
across the bed, burying her face in the sheet, hardly aware of the hot, still
living flesh beneath it. Someone was speaking; a light, young voice, the voice
of a eunuch. "He can hear all this; it troubles him." There was a strong
grasp on her shoulders, pulling her back. She might have recognized Ptolemy,
from the triumphs and processions seen from her lattices; but she was looking
across the bed, perceiving who had spoken. She would have guessed, even if she
had not seen him once in India, gliding down the Indus on Alexander's
flagship, dressed in the brilliant stuffs of Taxila, scarlet and gold. It was
the hated Persian boy, familiar of this room she had never entered; he, too, a
custom of the Greeks, though her husband had never told her so. His menial
clothes, his haggard exhausted face, conceded nothing. No longer desirable, he
had become commanding. Generals and satraps and captains, whose obedience
should be to her, who should be rousing the King to answer her, to name his
heir-they listened, submissive, to this dancing-boy. As for her, she was an
intrusion. She cursed him with her eyes, but already his attention was
withdrawn from her, as he beckoned a slave to take the bloodstained towel, and
checked the clean pile beside him. Ptolemy's hard hands released her; the
hands of her attendants, gentle, supplicating, insistent, guided her towards
the door. Someone picked up her veil from the bed and threw it over her. Back
in her own room, she flung herself down in a furious storm of weeping,
pummeling and biting the cushions of her divan. Her ladies, when they dared
speak to her, implored her to spare herself, lest the child miscarry. This
brought her to herself; she called for mare's milk and figs, which she chiefly
craved for lately. Dark fell; she tossed on her bed. At length, dry-eyed, she
got up, and paced to and fro in the moon-dappled courtyard, where the fountain
murmured like a conspirator in the hot Babylonian night. Once she felt the
child move strongly. Laying her hands over the place, she whispered, "Quiet,
my little king. I promise you... I promise..." She went back to bed, and fell
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into a heavy sleep. She dreamed she was in her father's fort on the Sogdian
Rock, a rampart-guarded cavern under the mountain's crest, with a
thousand-foot drop below. The Macedonians were besieging it. She looked down
at the swarming men, scattered like dark grains upon the snow; at the red
starry campfires plumed with faint smoke; at the colored dots of the tents.
The wind was rising, moaning over the crag. Her brother called to her to fit
arrowheads with the other women; he rebuked her idleness, and shook her. She
woke. Her woman let go her shoulder, but did not speak. She had slept late,
the sun was hot in the courtyard. Yet the wind soughed on; the world was full
of its noise, rising and failing, like its whiter voice when it blew from the
immeasurable ranges of the east... But this was Babylon. Here it died down
and there it rose, and now it came close at hand, the high wailing of the
harem; she could hear now its formal rhythm. The woman beside her, seeing her
awake, at once began lamenting, crying out the ancient phrases offered to the
widows of Bactrian chieftains time out of mind. They were looking at her. It
was for her to lead the dirge. Obediently she sat up, dragged at her hair,
drummed with her fists on her breast. She had known the words since her
childhood: "Alas, alas! The light is fallen from the sky, the lion of men is
fallen. When he lifted his sword, a thousand warriors trembled; when he opened
his hand, it shed gold like the sands of the sea. When he rejoiced, it
gladdened us like the sun. As the storm-wind rides the mountains, so he rode
to war; like the tempest that fells great forest trees, he rode into the
battle. His shield was a strong roof over his people. Darkness is his portion,
his house is desolate. Alas! Alas! Alas!" She laid her hands in her lap. Her
wailing ceased. The women, startled, stared at her. She said, "I have
lamented; I have finished now." She beckoned her chief waiting-woman and waved
the rest away. "Bring my old traveling-gown, the dark-blue one." It was
found, and dust shaken out of it from the Ekbatana road. The stuff was strong;
she had to nick it with her paring-knife before it would tear. When she had
rent it here and there, she put it on. Leaving her hair uncombed, she ran her
hand over a dusty cornice and smeared her face. Then she sent for her Bactrian
eunuch. "Go to the harem, and ask the lady Badia to visit me." "Hearing is
obedience, madam." How did she know the name of Ochos' first-ranking
concubine? But it was clearly no time for questions. From her
listening-place, Roxane could hear the fluster in the harem. Some were still
wailing for the King, but most were chattering. After a short delay for
preparation, Badia appeared, dressed in the mourning she had put on for King
Ochos, fifteen years before, smelling of herbs and cedarwood. For Darius she
had not worn it. Ochos had reigned for twenty years, and she had been a
concubine of his youth. She was in her fifties, graceful once, now gaunt. Long
before his death she had been left behind in Babylon while younger girls were
taken along to Susa. But she had ruled the harem in her time, and did not
forget. Some minutes were passed in orthodox condolences. Badia lauded the
valor of the King, his justice, his bounty. Roxane responded as was proper,
swaying and keening softly. Presently she wiped her eyes, and made a few
broken answers. Badia offered the immemorial consolation. "The child will be
his remembrance. You will see him grow to rival his father's honor." All this
was formula. Roxane abandoned it. "If he lives," she sobbed. "If Darius'
accursed kindred let him live. But they will kill him. I know, I know it." She
grasped her hair in both hands and moaned. Badia caught her breath, her lean
face shocked with memory. "Oh, the good God! Will those days come
again?" Ochos had achieved the throne by wholesale fratricide, and died by
poison. Roxane had no wish to hear reminiscences. She flung back her hair.
"How can they not? Who murdered King Ochos when he lay sick? And the young
King Arses and his loyal brothers? And Arses' little son, still at the breast?
And when it was done, who killed the Vizier his creature, to stop his mouth?
Darius! Alexander told me so." ("I used to think so," Alexander had told her
not long before, "but that was before I'd fought him. He'd not spirit enough
to be more than the Vizier's tool. He killed him after because he was afraid
of him. That was just like the man.") "Did the King say so? Ah, the lion of
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justice, the re-dresser of wrongs!" Her voice rose, ready to wail again;
Roxane lifted a quick repressive hand. "Yes, he avenged your lord. But my
son, who will avenge him? Ah, if you knew!" Badia raised sharp black eyes,
avid with curiosity. "What is it, lady?" Roxane told her. Alexander, still
sick with grief for his boyhood friend, had gone before, leaving her in safety
at Ekbatana, to purge of bandits the road to Babylon. Then, weary from the
winter war, he had stayed to rest at Susa, and been beguiled by Queen
Sisygambis; that old sorceress who, if truth were known, had set on her son,
the usurper, to all his crimes. She had brought to the King the daughter of
Darius, that clumsy, long-legged girl he had married to please the Persians.
Very likely she had drugged him, she was skilled in potions. She had got her
grandchild into the King's bed, and told him she was with child by him, though
who was to know the truth? And, since he had married her in state in the
presence of the Persian and Macedonian lords, what could they do but accept
her infant? "But he married her only for show, for policy. He told me
so." (Indeed it was true that before the wedding, appalled by Roxane's
frenzy, deafened by her cries, and feeling remorseful, Alexander had said
something to this effect. He had made no promises for the future, it being a
principle of his to keep the future open; but he had dried her tears, and
brought her some handsome earrings.) "And so," she cried, "under this roof
she will bear a grandchild to Ochos' murderer. And who will protect us, now
that the King is gone?" Badia began to cry. She thought of the long dull
peaceful years in the quiet ageing harem, where the dangerous outside world
was only rumor. She had outgrown the need of men and even of variety, living
contentedly with her talking bird and her little red-coated monkey and her old
gossiping eunuchs, maintained in comfort by the wandering, distant King. Now
there opened before her dreadful ancient memories of betrayal, accusations,
humiliation, the waking dread of the new day. It had been a cruel rival who
had displaced her with King Ochos. The peaceful years fell from her. She
sobbed and wailed; this time for herself "What can we do?" she cried. "What
can we do?" Roxane's white, plump, short-fingered hand grasped Badia's wrist.
Her great dark eyes, which had cast their spell upon Alexander, were fixed on
hers. "The King is dead. We must save ourselves as we best can." "Yes, lady."
The old days were back; once more it was a matter of survival. "Lady, what
shall we do?" Roxane drew her near and they talked softly, remembering the
crannies in the wall. Some time later, quietly by the servants' door came an
old eunuch from Badia's household. He carried a box of polished wood. Roxane
said, "It is true that you can write Greek?" "Certainly, madam. King Ochos
often called on me." "Have you good parchment? It is for a royal
letter." "Yes, madam." He opened the box. "When the usurper Darius gave my
place to one of his people, I took a little with me." "Good. Sit down and
write." When she gave him the superscription, he almost spoiled the scroll.
But he had not come quite ignorant of his errand; and Badia had told him that
if Darius' daughter ruled the harem, she would turn all Ochos' people out in
the street to beg. He wrote on. She saw that the script was even and flowing,
with the proper formal flourishes. When he had done, she gave him a silver
daric and let him go. She did not swear him to silence; it was beneath her
dignity, and Badia would have seen to it. He had brought wax, but she had not
sealed it in his presence. Now she drew off a ring Alexander had given her on
their wedding night. It was set with a flawless amethyst the color of dark
violets, on which Pyrgoletes, his favorite engraver, had carved his portrait.
It was nothing like the royal ring of Macedon, with its Zeus enthroned. But
Alexander had never been conventional, and she thought that it would
serve. She turned the stone in the light. The work was superb, and though
somewhat idealized had caught a vivid look of him. He had given it her when
they were at last alone in the bridal chamber; something to serve them in
place of words, since neither could speak the other's tongue. He had put it on
her, finding a finger it would fit at the second try. She had kissed it
respectfully, and then he had embraced her. She remembered how unexpectedly
pleasing his body was, with a warm freshness like a young boy's; but she had
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expected a harder grasp. He should have gone out to be undressed and have a
wedding shift put on him; but, instead, he had just tossed off his clothes and
stood there stark naked, in which state he had got into bed. She had been too
shocked at first to think of anything else, and he had thought she was afraid
of him. He had taken a good deal of trouble with her, some of it quite
sophisticated; he had had expert tuition, though she did not yet know whose.
But what she had really wanted was to be taken by storm. She had adopted
postures of submission, proper in a virgin; for anything livelier on the first
night, a Bactrian bridegroom would have strangled her. But she could feel he
was at a loss, and had a dreadful fear that there would be an unstained bridal
sheet for the guests to view next morning. She had nerved herself to embrace
him; and afterwards all was well. She dropped the hot wax on the scroll and
pressed in the gem. Suddenly a piercing memory came to her of a day a few
months ago in Ekbatana, one summer afternoon by the fishpool. He had been
feeding the carp, coaxing the old sullen king of the pool to come to his hand
from its lair under the lily-pads. He would not come in to make love till he
had won. After, he had fallen asleep; she remembered the fair boyish skin with
the deep dimpled scars, the soft margins of his strong hair. She had wanted to
feel and smell him as if he were good to eat, like fresh-baked bread. When she
buried her face in him, he half woke and held her comfortably, and slept
again. The sense of his physical presence came back to her like life. At last,
alone, in silence, she shed real tears. She wiped them soon. She had business
that would not wait. In the Bedchamber, the long days of dying were over.
Alexander had ceased to breathe. The lamenting eunuchs had drawn out the
heaped-up pillows; he lay straight and flat in the great bed, restored by
stillness to a monumental dignity, but, to the watchers, shocking in his
passiveness. A dead man, a corpse. The generals, hastily called when the end
was plainly coming, stood staring blankly. For two days they had been thinking
what to do now. Yet, now, it was as if the awaited certainty had been some
mere contingency with which their imaginations had been playing. They gazed
stupefied at the familiar face, so finally untenanted; feeling almost
resentment, so impossible did it seem that anything could happen to Alexander
without consent of his. How could he die and leave them in this confusion? How
could he throw off responsibility? It was quite unlike him. A cracked young
voice at the outer door suddenly cried out, "He's gone, he's gone!" It was a
youth of eighteen, one of the royal body-squires, who had been taking his turn
on guard duty. He broke into hysterical weeping, which rose above the keening
of the eunuchs around the bed. Someone must have led him away, for his voice
could be heard receding, raw with uncontainable grief. It was as if he had
invoked an ocean. He had blundered, sobbing, into half the Macedonian army,
gathered around the palace to await the news. Most of them had passed through
the Bedchamber the day before; but he had known them still, he had remembered
them; they, most of all, had good cause to expect a miracle. Now a huge clamor
rose; of grief, of ritual mourning; of protest, as if some authority could be
found to blame; of dismay at the uncertainties of the shattered future. The
sound aroused the generals. Their reflexes, trained to a hair by the dead man
on the bed, snapped into action. Panic must be dealt with instantly. They ran
out to the great platform above the forecourt. A herald, wavering at his post,
was barked at by Perdikkas, lifted his long-stemmed trumpet, and blew the
assembly call. The response was ragged. Only yesterday, believing the call to
be from Alexander, they would in silent minutes have sorted themselves into
their files and phalanxes, each troop competing to get into formation first.
Now, nature's laws were suspended. Those in front had to shout back to the
rear that it was Perdikkas. Since Hephaistion's death he had been Alexander's
second in command. When he roared at them, it gave them some sense of
security; they shuffled and shoved themselves into a semblance of order. The
Persian soldiers fell in with the rest. Their mourning outcries had
counterpointed the Macedonians' clamor. Now they grew quiet. They were-they
had been-soldiers of Alexander, who had made them forget they were a conquered
people, given them pride in themselves, made the Macedonians accept them. The
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early frictions had been almost over, Greek soldiers slang was full of Persian
words, a comradeship had begun. Now, suddenly, feeling themselves once more
defeated natives on sufferance in an alien army, they looked at each other
sidelong, planning desertion. At Perdikkas' signal, Peukestes strode forward,
a reassuring figure; a man renowned for valor, who had saved Alexander's life
in India when he took his near-mortal wound. Now, tall, handsome, commanding,
bearded in the fashion of his satrapy, he addressed them in Persian as correct
and aristocratic as his dress. Formally he announced to them the death of the
Great King. In due course, his successor would be proclaimed to them. They
might now dismiss. The Persians were calmed. But a deep muttering growl arose
from the Macedonians. By their ancestral law, the right to choose a king
belonged to them; to the Assembly of all male Macedonians able to bear arms.
What was this talk of a proclamation? Peukestes stood back for Perdikkas.
There was a pause. For twelve years, both of them had watched Alexander
dealing with Macedonians. They were not men who could be told to hold their
peace and await authority's pleasure. They had to be talked to, and he had
done it; only once, in all the twelve years, without success. Even then, once
they had made him turn back from India, they were all his own. Now, faced with
this disorder, for a moment Perdikkas expected to hear approaching the brisk
impatient footsteps; the crisp low-spoken reprimand, the high ringing voice
creating instant stillness. He did not come; and Perdikkas, though he lacked
magic, understood authority. He fell, as Alexander had done at need, into the
Doric patois of the homeland, their own boyhood tongue before they were
schooled into polite Greek. They had all lost, he said, the greatest of kings,
the bravest and best of warriors, that the world had seen since the sons of
the gods forsook the earth. Here he was stopped by a huge swelling groan; no
voluntary tribute, but an outburst of naked misery and bereavement. When he
could be heard again, he said, "And the grandsons of your grandsons will say
so still. Remember, then, that your loss is measured by your former fortune.
You out of all men, past or to come, have had your share in the glory of
Alexander. And now it is for you, his Macedonians, to whom he has bequeathed
the mastery of half the world, to keep your courage, and show you are the men
he made you. All will be done according to the law." The hushed crowd gazed
up in expectation. When Alexander had talked them quiet, he had always had
something to tell them. Perdikkas knew it; but all he had to tell was that he
himself was now, effectively, the King in Asia. It was too soon; they knew
only one King, alive or dead. He told them to go back to camp and wait for
further orders. Under his eye they began to leave the forecourt; but when he
had gone in, many came back by ones and twos, and settled down with their arms
beside them, ready for night, to keep the death-watch. Down in the city the
sound of lamentation, like a brushfire with a high wind behind it, spread from
the crowded streets nearest the palace, on through the suburbs to the houses
built along the walls. Above the temples the tall thin smoke-plumes, which had
been rising upright in the still air from the sacred fires, one after another
dipped and died. By the heap of damp ashes in Bel-Marduk's brazier, the
priests reminded each other that this was the second time in little more than
a month. The King had ordered it on the day of his friend's funeral. "We
warned him of the omen, but he would hear nothing. He was a foreigner, when
all is said." Theirs was the first fire quenched. In the temple of Mithra,
guardian of the warrior's honor, lord of loyalty and the given word, a young
priest stood in the sanctuary with a water-ewer in his hand. Above the altar
was carved the symbol of the winged sun, at war with the dark, age after age
till the last victory. The fire still burned high, for the young man had been
feeding it extravagantly, as if it had power to rekindle the sinking life of
the King. Even now, when he had been ordered to extinguish it, he put down his
ewer, ran to a coffer of Arabian incense, and flung a handful to sparkle into
fragrance. Last of the officiants, it was not till his offering had lifted
into the summer sky that he poured the water hissing upon the embers. On the
Royal Road to Susa, a courier traveled, his racing dromedary eating the miles
with its smooth loping stride. Before it needed rest he would have reached the
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next relay post, whence a fresh man and beast would carry his charge on
through the night. His stage was halfway of the journey. The parchment in his
saddlebag had been passed to him by the man before, without pause for
questions. Only the first stage out from Babylon had been run by a rider
unknown to his relief. This stranger, when asked if it was true that the King
was sick, had replied that it might be so for all he knew, but he had no time
for gossiping. Silent haste was the first rule of the corps; the relief had
saluted and sped away, showing, wordlessly, to the next man in the chain, that
his letter was sealed with the image of the King. It was said that a despatch
by Royal Messenger would outstrip even the birds. Winged rumor itself could
not overtake it; for at night rumor stops to sleep. Two travelers, who had
reined in to let the courier past, were nearly thrown as their horses squealed
and reared at the detested smell of camel. The elder man, who was about
thirty-five, stocky, freckled and red-haired, mastered his mount first,
wresting back its head till the rough bit dripped blood. His brother, some ten
years younger, auburn and conventionally good-looking, took longer because he
had tried to reassure the horse. Kassandros watched his efforts with contempt.
He was the eldest son of the Regent of Macedon, Antipatros, and was a stranger
in Babylonia. He had reached it lately, sent by his father to find out why
Alexander had summoned him to Macedon and sent Krateros to assume the regency
in his stead. Iollas, the younger, had marched with Alexander, and till
lately been his cupbearer. His appointment had been by way of an appeasing
gesture to their father; Kassandros had been left behind on garrison duty in
Macedon, because he and Alexander had disliked each other since they were
boys. When the horse was quiet, Iollas said, "That was a Royal
Messenger." "May he and his brute drop dead." "Why is he riding?
Perhaps-it's all over now." Kassandros, looking back towards Babylon, said,
"May the dog of Hades eat his soul." For some time they rode in silence,
Iollas looking at the road before him. At last he said, "Well, no one can turn
Father out now. Now he can be King." "King?" growled Kassandros. "Not he. He
took his oath and he’ll keep it. Even to the barbarian's brat, if it's a
boy." Iollas' horse started, feeling its rider's shock. "Then why? Why did
you make me do it?... Not for Father? … Only for hate! Almighty God, I should
have known!" Kassandros leaned over and slashed his riding-quirt down on the
young man's knees. He gave a startled cry of pain and anger. "Don't dare do
that again! We're not at home now, and I'm not a boy." Kassandros pointed to
the red weal. "Pain's a reminder. You did nothing. Remember, nothing. Keep it
in your head." A little way further on, seeing tears in Iollas's eyes, he said
with grudging forbearance, "Like as not he took fever from the marsh air. By
now he must have drunk dirty water often enough. The peasants down river drink
swamp-water, and they don't die of it. Keep your mouth shut. Or you might die
of it." Iollas swallowed and gulped. Dragging his hand across his eyes, and
streaking his face with the black dust of the Babylonian plain, he said
huskily, "He never got back his strength after that arrow-wound in India. He
couldn't afford a fever... He was good to me. I only did it for Father. Now
you say he won't be King." "He won't be King. But whatever name they call it,
he'll die the ruler of Macedon and all Greece. And he's an old man
now." Iollas gazed at him in silence; then spurred his horse and galloped
ahead through the yellow wheatfields, his sobs catching their rhythm from the
pounding of the hooves. Next day in Babylon the leading generals prepared for
the Assembly that was to choose a ruler of the Macedonians. Their law did not
demand primogeniture as inalienable. It was the right of the men in arms to
choose among the royal family. When Philip had died, it had been simple.
Almost all the fighting-men were still at home. Alexander at twenty had
already made a name for himself, and no other claimant had been so much as
named. Even when Philip, a younger brother, had been chosen before the child
of King Perdikkas, lately fallen in battle, that had been simple too; Philip
had been a tried commander, the child an infant in arms, and they were at
war. Now, Macedonian troops were scattered in strong-points all over central
Asia. Ten thousand veterans were marching home for discharge under the command
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of Krateros, a youngish man, whom Alexander had ranked next after Hephaistion,
and who was one of the royal kindred. There were the garrison troops in
Macedon, and in the great stone forts which commanded the passes into southern
Greece. All this the men at Babylon knew. But no one of them questioned that
theirs was the right to choose a king. They were the army of Alexander, and
that was everything. Outside on the hot parade ground they waited, disputing,
conjecturing, passing rumors on. Sometimes, as their impatience and disquiet
mounted, the noise would surge like a breaker on a pebbled beach. The
generals inside, the high command known as the Royal Bodyguard, had been
trying to get hold of the chief officers of the aristocratic Companions, with
whom they wished to confer in their dilemma. Failing in this, they ordered the
herald to blow a call for quiet, and summon them by name. The herald, knowing
no army call for quiet alone, blew "Assemble for orders." It was received by
the impatient men as "Come to Assembly." Clamorously they poured through the
great doors into the audience hall, while the herald shouted against the din
the names he had been given, and the officers he named, those who could hear
him, tried to shove themselves through the crowd. The crush inside grew
dangerous; the doors were shut in desperation, on everyone who had entered,
authorized or not. The herald, gazing helplessly at the milling, cursing mob
left in the courtyard, said to himself that if Alexander had seen it, someone
would soon be wishing he'd never been born. First to get in, because others
had made way for them, were the men of the Companions, the horse-owning lords
of Macedon, and any officers who had been near the doors. The rest of the
crowd was a mixture of high and low, thrown anyhow together. The one thing
they had in common was a deep unease, and the aggressiveness of worried men.
It had come home to them that they were isolated troops in conquered country,
half their world away from home. They had come here through faith in
Alexander, in him alone. What they craved now was not a king but a
leader. The doors once closed, all eyes sought the royal dais. There, as
often before, were the great men, Alexander's nearest friends, standing around
the throne, the ancient throne of Babylon; its arms carved into crouching
Assyrian bulls, its back recarved for Xerxes into the winged image of the
unconquered sun. Here they had seen the small, compact, bright figure, needing
a footstool, glowing like a jewel in too large a box, the spread wings of
Ahura-Mazda above his head. Now the throne was empty. Across its back was the
royal robe, and on its seat the diadem. A low, sighing groan ran through the
pillared hall. Ptolemy, who read the poets, thought it was like the climax of
a tragedy, when the upstage doors are flung open, disclosing to the chorus
that their fears are true and the King is dead. Perdikkas stepped forward.
All Alexander's friends here present, he said, would witness that the King had
given him the royal ring. But, being speechless, he could not say what powers
he was conferring. "He looked at me fixedly, and it was clear he wished to
speak, but his breath failed him. So, men of Macedon, here is the ring." He
drew it off, and laid it beside the crown. "Bestow it as you choose, according
to ancestral law." There were murmurs of admiration and suspense, as at a
play. He waited, still downstage, like a good actor who could time his lines.
So Ptolemy thought, glancing at the alert arrogant face, now set in impassive
dignity; a well-carved mask; a mask for a king? Perdikkas said, "Our loss is
beyond all measure, that we know. We know it is not to be thought of that the
throne should pass to anyone not of his blood. Roxane his wife is five months
with child; let us pray it will be a boy. He must first be born, and then he
must come of age. Meantime, whom do you wish to rule you? It is for you to
say." The voices murmured; the generals on the dais looked restively at each
other; Perdikkas had not presented another speaker. Suddenly, unannounced,
Niarchos, the admiral, stepped forward; a spare, lean-waisted Cretan, with a
brown weathered face. The hardships of the dreadful voyage down the Gedrosian
coast had put ten years on him; he looked fifty, but still wiry and fit. The
men quietened to hear him; he had seen monsters of the deep, and put them to
flight with trumpets. Unused to public speaking upon the land, he used the
voice with which he hailed ships at sea, startling them with its
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loudness. "Macedonians, I put before you as Alexander's heir the son of
Darius' daughter Stateira. The King left her pregnant when last he passed
through Susa." There were surprised, disconcerted murmurs; he raised his voice
over them, as he would have done in a noisy storm. "You saw their wedding. You
saw it was a royal one. He meant to send for her here. He told me so." This
wholly unexpected news of a woman who, barely glimpsed on her bridal day, had
vanished at once into the recesses of the Susa harem, caused a surge of
confusion and dismay. Presently a broad-spoken peasant voice called out, "Ah,
but did he say aught about the bairn?" "No," said Niarchos. "In my belief he
meant to bring up both sons under his eye, if both were sons, and choose the
better one. But he's not lived to do it; and Stateira's child has right of
rank." He stepped back; he had nothing more to say. He had done what seemed
his duty, and that was all. Looking out over the sea of heads, he remembered
how Alexander, lean as a bone and hollow-eyed from the desert march, had
greeted him when he brought the fleet safe back, embracing him with tears of
relief and joy. Since they were boys, Niarchos had been in love with him in an
unsexual, undemanding way; that moment had been the climax of his life. What
he would do with the rest of it, he could not begin to think. Perdikkas'
teeth were set with anger. He had urged the men to appoint a regent-who but
himself? Now, they had been sidetracked into debating the succession. Two
unborn children, who might both be girls. It was in the family; Philip had
sired a horde of daughters, and only one son unless you counted the fool. The
regency was the thing. Philip himself had started out as regent for an infant
heir, but the Macedonians had not wasted much time in electing him King.
Perdikkas himself had a good strain of the royal blood... What had possessed
Niarchos? There was no heading the men off now. Their debate grew noisy and
acrimonious. If, in their view, Alexander had had a fault, it was letting
himself get Persianized. The Susa weddings, a serious manifesto, had caused
much more unease than the campaign marriage with Roxane, the sort of thing his
father used to do time and again. They had been indulgent towards the
dancing-boy, as towards a pet monkey or dog; but why could he not have married
a girl from a decent old Macedonian family, instead of two barbarians? Now
this was what had come of it. Some argued that any offspring of his must be
accepted, half-breed or not. Others said there was no knowing if he would have
acknowledged either; and you could be sure, if either of those women had a
stillbirth or a girl, they would smuggle something in. They were crawling on
their bellies to no Persian changeling... Ptolemy watched the scene with
grief and anger, longing to be gone. From the time when Alexander's death had
become a certainty, he had known where he wished to go. Ever since Egypt had
opened its arms to Alexander as its liberator from the Persian yoke, Ptolemy
had been entranced by it, its immemorial mellow civilization, its stupendous
monuments and temples, the rich life of its sustaining river. It was
defensible as an island, protected by sea and desert and wilderness; one had
only to win the people's trust to hold it secure forever. Perdikkas and the
rest would gladly give him the satrapy; they wanted him out of the way. He
was dangerous, a man who could claim to be Alexander's brother, even though
from adultery when Philip was in his teens. His paternity was unproved and
unacknowledged; but Alexander had always had a special place for him, and
everyone knew it. Yes, Perdikkas would be glad to see him off to Africa. But
did the man think he could make himself Alexander's heir? That was what he
was after; it was written all over him. Something must be done; and now. The
soldiers, when Ptolemy stepped forward, broke off their disputes to give him a
hearing. He had been a boyhood friend of Alexander; he had presence without
Perdikkas' arrogance; men who had served under him liked him. A group of them
gave him a cheer. "Macedonians. I see you do not wish to choose a king from
the offspring of the conquered." There was loud applause. The men, who had
all come armed-it was the proof of their voting right- beat their spears on
their shields till the high hall echoed. Ptolemy raised a hand for quiet. "We
do not know if either wife of Alexander will bear a boy. If one or both
should, when they come of age they must be brought before you and your sons,
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for Assembly to decide whom the Macedonians will accept. In the meantime, you
await Alexander's heir. But who will act for him? Here before you are those
whom Alexander honored with trust. Lest too much power go to one man, I
propose a Council of Regency." The voices were tempered. Reminded that in
fifteen years or so they could still reject both claimants, they saw where the
day's serious business lay. Ptolemy said into the new quiet, "Remember
Krateros. Alexander trusted him like himself. He sent him to govern Macedon.
That is why he is not present now." That got home to them. They honored
Krateros next to Alexander; he was of royal stock, capable, brave, handsome
and careful of their needs. Ptolemy could feel the eyes of Perdikkas, red-hot
in his back. Let him make the best of it; I did as I had to do. As they
buzzed and muttered below, Ptolemy thought suddenly, Only a few days back we
were all alike the Friends of Alexander, just waiting for him to get up again
and lead us. What are we now, and what am I? He had never set great store on
being Philip's son; it had cost him too much in childhood. Philip had been a
nobody, a younger son held hostage by the Thebans, when he was born. "Can't
you make your bastard behave?" his father would say to his mother when he was
in trouble. Philip had won him more than one boy's share of beatings. Later,
when Philip was King and he himself a royal squire, his luck had turned; but
what he had learned to care for was not being Philip's son, if indeed he was.
He had cared, with affection and with growing pride, to be Alexander's
brother. Never mind, he thought, whether it is the truth of my blood, or not.
It is the truth of my heart. A new voice broke his brief reverie. Aristonous,
one of the Bodyguard, came forward to point out that whatever Alexander might
have meant, he had given his ring to Perdikkas. He had looked around first,
and knew what he was doing. This was fact, not guesswork; and Aristonous was
for abiding by it. He spoke simply and frankly, and carried the Assembly.
They shouted Perdikkas' name, and many called to him to take back the ring.
Slowly, scanning them, he took a few steps forward towards it. For a moment
his eye met Ptolemy's, noting him in a way a man notes a newfound enemy. It
would not yet do, Perdikkas thought, to look overeager. He needed another
voice in Aristonous' support. The hall, crowded with sweating men, was
stiflingly close and hot. To the stink of humanity was added that of urine,
where a few men had surreptitiously relieved themselves in corners. The
generals on the dais were growing stupefied by their varied feelings of grief,
anxiety, resentment, impatience and frustration. Suddenly, shouting something
indistinct, an officer elbowed his way forward through the crowd. What, they
all thought, can Meleager have to say? He had been a phalanx commander since
Alexander's first campaign, but had risen no higher. Alexander had confided to
Perdikkas, one night at supper, but he was a good soldier if one did not
stretch his mind. He arrived below the dais, red-faced with the heat, with
anger, and, by his looks, with wine; then lifted a harsh furious voice which
stunned the crowd almost silent. "That's the royal ring! Are you letting that
fellow take it? Give it him now, he'll keep it till he dies! No wonder he
wants a king who's not yet born!" The generals, calling for order, were
barely heard above the sudden roar. Meleager had aroused, from a kind of
restless torpor, a mass of men who had not been heard before, the mental lees
of the crowd. They took notice now, as they would of a knife-duel in the
street, a man beating his wife, or a vicious dogfight; and shouted for
Meleager, as if for the winning dog. In the camp, Perdikkas could have
restored order in minutes. But this was Assembly; he was not so much
Commander-in-Chief as candidate. Repression might seem to forecast tyranny. He
made a gesture of tolerant contempt, meaning "Even such a man must be
heard." He had seen the naked hatred in Meleager's face. The rank of their
fathers had been much the same; they had both been royal squires to Philip;
both had looked with secret envy at the tight-knit circle round the young
Alexander. Then, when Philip was assassinated, Perdikkas had been the first to
run down the fleeing assassin. Alexander had praised him, noticed and promoted
him. With promotion came opportunity; he had never looked back. When
Hephaistion died, he had been given his command. Meleager had remained an
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infantry phalanx leader, useful if not too much was put on him. And, as
Perdikkas saw, the knowledge that burned him was that they had started
equal. "How do we know," Meleager shouted, "that Alexander gave him anything?
Whose word do we have for it? His and his friends'! And what are they after?
Alexander's treasure here, which all of us helped to win! Will you stand for
that?" The noise turned to turmoil. The generals, who had thought that they
knew men, saw incredulously that Meleager was beginning to lead a mob; men
ready to sack the palace like a conquered town. Chaos broke out around
it. Perdikkas summoned, desperately, all his expert powers of
dominance. "Halt!" he thundered. There was a reflex response. He barked his
orders; sufficient men obeyed them. Solid ranks with locked shields formed
before the inner doors. The yelling sank to growls. "I am glad to see," said
Perdikkas in his deep voice, "that we still have here some soldiers of
Alexander." There was a hush, as if he had invoked the name of an offended
god. The mob began to lose itself in the crowd. The shields were lowered. In
the uncertain pause, a rustic voice, from somewhere deep in the press, made
itself heard. "Shame on you all, I say! Like the Commander says, we're
soldiers of Alexander. It's his blood we want to rule us, not regents for
foreign children. When we've Alexander's true-born brother, here in this very
house." There was an astonished silence. Ptolemy, stunned, felt all his
well-considered decisions shaken by a surge of primitive instinct. The ancient
throne of Macedon, with its savage history of tribal rivalries and fratricidal
wars, reached out its beckoning spell. Philip-Alexander-Ptolemy... The
peasant spearman below, having gamed a hearing, went on with gathering
confidence. "His own brother which King Philip himself acknowledged, as every
one of you knows. Alexander always cared for him like his own. I do hear say
he was backward as a boy, but it's not a month since the both of them were
sacrificing for their father's soul at the household altar. I was on escort,
and so were my mates here. He done everything right." There were sounds of
assent. Ptolemy could barely repress the stare and dropped jaw of utter
stupefaction. Arridaios! They must be mad. "King Philip," persisted the
soldier, "married Philinna lawful, which was his right to have more wives than
one. So I say, pass by the foreign babes, and let's have his son, which is his
rightful heir." There was applause from law-abiding men, who had been shocked
by Meleager. On the dais, the silence was general and appalled. Simple or
devious, not one of them had thought of this. "Is it true?" said Perdikkas
quickly to Ptolemy through the noise. "Did Alexander take him to the shrine?"
Urgency overcame enmity; Ptolemy would surely know. "Yes." Ptolemy remembered
the two heads side by side, dark and fair, the apprentice piece and the
sculptor's. "He's been better lately. He's not had a fit in a year. Alexander
said he must be kept in mind of who his father was." "Arridaios!" came a
growing shout. "Give us Alexander's brother! Long live Macedon!
Arridaios!" "How many saw him?" said Perdikkas. "The Companion escort and
the foot-guard, and anyone looking on. He behaved quite properly. He always
does... did, with Alexander." "We can't have this. They don't know what
they're doing. This must be stopped." The speaker, Peithon, was a short wiry
man with a foxily pointed, rufous face and a sharp foxy bark. He was one of
the Bodyguard, a good commander, but not known for the spirit of persuasion.
He stepped out, forestalling Perdikkas, and snapped, "Alexander's brother!
You'd do better to choose his horse!" The bite in his voice produced a brief,
but not friendly silence; he was not on the parade ground now. He went on,
"The fellow's a halfwit. Dropped on his head as a baby, and falls down in
fits. Alexander's kept him like a child, with a nurse to tend him. Do you want
an idiot for a king?" Perdikkas swallowed a curse. Why had this man ever been
promoted? Competent in the field, but no grip on morale in quarters. He
himself, if this fool had not stepped in, would have recalled to the men the
romantic winning of Roxane, the storming of the Sogdian Rock, the victor's
chivalry; winning back their minds to Alexander's son. Now their feelings had
been offended. They saw Arridaios as a victim of obscure intrigues. They had
seen the man, and he had behaved like anyone else. Alexander was always
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fortunate, thought Ptolemy. Already people wore his image cut on rings, for
luck-charms. What spiteful fate inspired him, so near his end, with this
kindly impulse towards a harmless fool? But, of course, there was a ceremony
to come, at which he must appear. Perhaps Alexander had thought of
that... "Shame!" the men were shouting up to Peithon. "Arridaios, Arridaios,
we want Arridaios!" He yapped at them; but they drowned his voice with
boos. Nobody noticed, till too late, that Meleager was missing. It had been
a long, dull day for Arridaios. No one had come to see him except the slave
with his meals, which had been overcooked and half cold. He would have liked
to hit the slave, but Alexander did not allow him. Someone from Alexander came
nearly every day to see how he was, but today there had been no one to tell
about the food. Even old Konon, who looked after him, had gone off just after
getting-up time, saying he had to attend a meeting or some such thing, and
hardly listening to a word he said. He needed Konon for several things: to
see he had something nice for supper, to find him a favorite striped stone he
had mislaid, and to say why there had been such a terrible noise that morning,
wailing and howling which seemed to come from everywhere, as if thousands of
people were being beaten at once. From his window on the park, he had seen a
crowd of men all running towards the palace. Perhaps, soon, Alexander would
come to see him, and tell him what it was all about. Sometimes he did not
come for a very long time, and they said he was away on a campaign. Arridaios
would stay in camp, or sometimes, as now, in a palace, till he came back
again. Often he brought presents, colored sweets, carved painted horses and
lions, a piece of crystal for his collection, and once a beautiful scarlet
cloak. Then the slaves would fold the tents and they would all move on.
Perhaps this was going to happen now. Meantime, he wanted the scarlet cloak
to play with. Konon had said it was far too hot for cloaks, he would only make
it dirty and spoil it. It was locked in the chest, and Konon had the key. He
got out all his stones, except the striped one, and laid them out in pictures;
but not having the best one spoiled it. A flush of anger came over him; he
picked up the biggest stone and beat it on the table-top again and again. A
stick would have been better, but he was not allowed one, Alexander himself
had taken it away. A long time ago, when he lived at home, he had been left
mostly with the slaves. No one else wanted to see him. Some were kind when
they had time, but some had mocked him and knocked him about. As soon as he
began to travel with Alexander, the slaves were different and more polite, and
one was even afraid of him. It seemed a good time to get his own back, so he
had beaten the man till his head bled and he fell down on the floor. Arridaios
had never known till then how strong he was. He had gone on hitting till they
carried the man away. Then, suddenly, Alexander had appeared; not dressed for
dinner, but with armor on, all dirty and splashed with mud, and out of breath.
He had looked quite frightening, like a different person, his eyes pale grey
and large in his dirty face; and he had made Arridaios swear on their father's
head never to do such a thing again. He had remembered it today when his food
was late. He did not want his father's ghost to come after him. He had been
terrified of him, and had sung with joy on hearing he was dead. It was time
for his ride in the park, but he was not allowed to go without Konon, who kept
him on a leading-rein. He wished Alexander would come, and take him again to
the shrine. He had held everything nicely, and poured on the wine and oil and
incense after Alexander did, and had let them take the gold cups away though
he would have liked to keep them; and afterwards, Alexander had said he had
done splendidly. Someone was coming! Heavy feet, and a clank of armor.
Alexander was quicker and lighter than that. A soldier came in whom he had
never seen before; a tallish man with a red face and straw-colored hair,
holding his helmet under his arm. They looked at one another. Arridaios, who
knew nothing of his own appearance, knew still less that Meleager was
thinking, Great Zeus! Philip's face. What is inside it? The young man had, in
fact, much of his father's structure, square face, dark brows and beard, broad
shoulders and short neck. Since eating was his chief pleasure he was
overweight, though Konon had never allowed him to get gross. Delighted to see
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a visitor at last, he said eagerly, "Are you going to take me to the
park?" "No, sir." He stared avidly at Arridaios, who, disconcerted, tried to
think if he had done anything wrong. Alexander had never sent this man before.
"Sir. I have come to escort you to Assembly. The Macedonians have elected you
their King." Arridaios stared at him with alarm, followed by a certain
shrewdness. "You're telling lies. I’m not the King, my brother is. He said to
me, Alexander said, 'If I didn't look after you, someone would try to make you
King, and you'd end up being killed.'" He backed away, eyeing Meleager with
growing agitation. "I won't go to the park with you. I'll go with Konon. You
fetch him here. If you don't, I'll tell Alexander of you." His retreat was
blocked by the heavy table. The soldier walked right up to him, so that he
flinched instinctively, remembering boyhood beatings. But the man just stared
into his eyes, and, very slowly, spoke. "Sir. Your brother is dead. King
Alexander is dead. The Macedonians are calling for you. Come with me." Since
Arridaios did not move, he grasped his arm and guided him to the door. He came
unresisting, not heeding where he was led, striving to come to terms with a
world which Alexander did not rule. So expeditious had Meleager been that the
crowd in the hall was still shouting "Arridaios!" when he himself appeared
upon the dais. Confronted by this sounding sea of men, he gazed in a numb
astonishment, giving a brief illusion of dignified reserve. Most of the
dumbfounded generals had never seen him before; only a few of the men had
glimpsed him. But every Macedonian over thirty had seen King Philip. There was
a pause of perfect silence; then the cheers began. "Philip! Philip!
Philip!" Arridaios sent a terrified look over his shoulder. Was his father
coming, had he never been really dead? Meleager beside him caught the
revealing change of countenance and whispered swiftly, "They are cheering
you." Arridaios gazed about, slightly reassured, but still bewildered. Why did
they call so for his father? His father was dead. Alexander was
dead... Meleager stepped forward. So much, he thought triumphantly, for that
upstart Perdikkas and his unborn ward. "Here, Macedonians, is the son of
Philip, the brother of Alexander. Here is your rightful King." Spoken loudly
and almost in his ear, it reached Arridaios with awful comprehension. He knew
why all these men were here and what was happening. "No!" he cried, his high
plaintive voice issuing incongruously from his large hirsute face. "I’m not
the King! I told you, I can't be King. Alexander told me not to." But he had
addressed himself to Meleager, and was inaudible beyond the dais, drowned by
the cheering. The generals, appalled, all turned upon Meleager, talking across
him. He listened with mounting fear to the loud angry voices. Clearly he
recalled Alexander's large deep-set eyes, fixed upon his, warning him of what
would happen if they tried to make him King. While Meleager was quarreling
with the tall dark man in the middle of the dais, he bolted for the now
unguarded inner door. Outside, in the warren-like passages of the ancient
palace, he wandered sobbing to himself, seeking the way back to his familiar
room. In the hall, new uproar began. None of this had precedent. Both the
last two kings had been elected by acclamation, and led with traditional
paeans to the royal palace at Aigai, whence each had confirmed his accession
by directing his predecessor's funeral. Meleager, wrangling with Perdikkas,
had not missed his fugitive candidate till he was warned by sounds of derision
from the floor. Feeling was swinging against him; the powerful presence of
Perdikkas had appeal for men seeking some source of confidence and strength.
Meleager saw that only instant resource would avail. He turned and ran,
followed by boos, through the door Arridaios had used. The most vocal of his
supporters-not the loot-hungry mob, but kinsmen and fellow-clansmen and men
with grudges against Perdikkas-took alarm and hurried after. Before long they
ran down their quarry, standing where two passages met, debating with himself
which way to turn. At sight of them he cried out, "No! Go away!" and started
to run. Meleager grasped his shoulder. He submitted, looking terror-stricken.
Clearly in this state he could not appear. Gently, calmingly, Meleager changed
his grip to a protective caress. "Sir, you must listen. Sir, you've nothing
to fear. You were a good brother to Alexander. He was the rightful King; it
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would have been wrong, just as he said, for you to take his throne. But now he
is dead, and you are the rightful King. The throne is yours." A flash of
inspiration came to him. "There is a present for you on it. A beautiful purple
cloak." Arridaios, already soothed by the kindly voice, now brightened
visibly. No one had laughed; things were too urgent and too dangerous. "Can I
keep it all the time?" he asked cannily. "You won't lock it up?" "No, indeed.
The moment you have it, you can put it on." "And have it all day?" "All
night too, if you wish." As he began to guide his prize along the passage, a
new thought struck him. "When the men called 'Philip!' it was you they meant.
They are honoring you with your father's name. You will be King Philip of
Macedon." King Philip, thought Arridaios. It gave him confidence. His father
must be really dead, if his name could be given away, like a purple cloak. It
would be well to take them both. He was still buoyed by this decision when
Meleager steered him onto the dais. Smiling around at the exclamations, he
saw at once the great swath of color draped upon the throne, and walked
briskly towards it. Sounds which he had mistaken for friendly greetings died;
the Assembly, arrested by his changed demeanor, watched the drama almost in
silence. "There, sir, is our present to you," said Meleager in his ear. To a
ground-bass of restless murmurs, Philip Arridaios lifted the robe from the
throne, and held it up before him. It was the robe of state, made at Susa for
the marriage of Alexander to Stateira daughter of Darius, and of his eighty
honored friends to their Persian brides, with the whole of his army as his
wedding guests. In this robe he had given audience to envoys from half the
known world, during his last progress down to Babylon. It was of a wool as
dense as velvet and soft as silk, dyed with Tyrian murex to a soft glowing
crimson just tinged with purple, pure as the red of a dark rose. The breast
and back were worked with the sunburst, the Macedonian royal blazon, in balas
rubies and gold. A sleeveless dalmatic, it was clasped on the shoulders with
two gold lion-masks, worn at their weddings by three kings of Macedon. The hot
afternoon sun slanted down from a high window on the lions' emerald eyes. The
new Philip gazed at it in rapture. Meleager said, "Let me help you to put it
on." He raised it, and slipped it over Philip's head. Radiant with pleasure,
he looked out at the cheering men. "Thank you," he said, as he had been taught
when he was a child. The cheers redoubled. The son of Philip had come in with
dignity, looking like a king. At first he must simply have been abashed and
modest. Now they were for the royal blood against the world. "Philip! Philip!
Long live Philip!" Ptolemy felt almost choked with grief and anger. He
remembered the wedding morning, when he and Hephaistion had gone to
Alexander's room in the Susa palace to dress the bridegroom. They had
exchanged the jokes which were traditional, along with private ones of their
own. Alexander, who had been planning for weeks this great ceremony of racial
concord, had been almost incandescent; one could have taken him for a man in
love. It was Hephaistion who had remembered the lion brooches and pinned them
on the robe. To see it now on a grinning idiot made Ptolemy long to spit
Meleager on his sword. Towards the poor fool himself he felt horror rather
than anger. He knew him well; he had often gone, when Alexander was busy, to
make sure he was not neglected or ill-used; such things, it was tacitly
agreed, were better kept in the family. Philip... ! Yes, it would stick. He
said to Perdikkas, who was beside him, "Alexander should have had him
smothered." Perdikkas, unheeding, strode forward, blazing with rage, trying
vainly to be heard above the din. Pointing at Philip, he made a sweeping
gesture of rejection and scorn. Shouts of support came from just below him.
The Companions, foremost by right or rank, had had the clearest view. They had
heard of the fool; they had watched, in silent grief or sheer incredulity, the
assumption of the robe. Now their outrage found vent Their strong voices,
trained in the piercing war-paean of the charging cavalry, overpowered all
other sound. It was as if the robe of Alexander had been a battle-standard,
suddenly unfurled. Men started to put their helmets on. The hammering of
spears on shields grew to a volume like the sound of onset. Nearer, more
deadly, came the hiss and whisper of the Companions' unsheathed swords. In
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alarm Meleager saw the powerful aristocracy of Macedon rallying in force
against him. Even his own faction might fall off from him, unless forced to
commit themselves beyond retreat. Each common soldier now shouting "Philip!"
was, after all, the tribesman of some lord. He must divide them from tribal
allegiances, create new action. With the thought, the answer came to him. His
own genius amazed him. How could Alexander have passed such a leader
by? Firmly, but imperceptibly, he guided the smiling Philip to the edge of
the dais. The impression that he meant to speak procured a moment's quiet, if
only from curiosity. Meleager spoke into it. "Macedonians! You have chosen
your King! Do you mean to stand by him?" The spearmen replied with defiant
cheers. "Then come with him now, and help him confirm his right. A King of
Macedon must entomb his predecessor." He paused. He had real silence now. A
ripple of shock could almost be felt, passing through the packed,
sweat-stinking hall. Meleager lifted his voice. "Come! The body of Alexander
awaits its rites. Here is his heir to perform them. Don't let them cheat him
of his heritage. To the death-chamber! Come!" There was confused, seething
movement. The sounds had changed. The most determined of the infantry surged
forward; but they did not cheer. Many held back; there was a deep mutter of
opposing voices. Companions began to clamber on the dais, to guard the inner
doors. The generals, all trying to protest at once, only added to the
confusion. Suddenly, rising above everything, came the cracked new-broken
voice of a youth, hoarse with passionate fury. "Bastards! You bastards! You
filthy, slave-born bastards!" From a corner of the hall alongside the
Companions, shoving through everyone regardless of age or rank, yelling as if
in battle, came the royal squires. The watch on duty had been with Alexander
till he died, standing on after sunrise. They had been several years in
attendance on him. Some of them had turned eighteen and had a vote, the rest
had crowded into Assembly with them. They leaped and scrambled up on the dais,
waving their drawn swords, wild-eyed, crop-headed, their fair Macedonian hair
shorn raggedly almost to their scalps in mourning. There were nearly fifty of
them. Perdikkas, seeing their fanatic rage, knew them at sight for the
readiest killers in the hall. Unless stopped they would have Philip dead, and
then there would be a massacre. "To me!" he shouted to them. "Follow me!
Protect the body of Alexander!" He ran to the inner door, Ptolemy
neck-and-neck with him, the other generals close behind, and then the squires,
so fierce in their rush that they outdistanced the Companions. Pursued by the
angry cries of the opposition, they ran through the King's reception room,
through his private sanctum, and on into the Bedchamber. The doors were
closed, not locked. The foremost men burst through them. Ptolemy thought,
with a shuddering realization, He has lain here since yesterday! In Babylon,
in midsummer. unconsciously, as the doors burst open, he held his
breath. There was a faint scent of almost burned-out incense; of the dried
flowers and herbs which scented the royal robes and bed, mixed with the scent
of the living presence which Ptolemy had known since boyhood. In the vast
forsaken room he lay on the great bed between its watchful daimons, a clean
fresh sheet drawn over him. Some aromatic sprinkled on it had cheated even the
flies. On the dais, half propped against the bed with an arm thrown over it,
the Persian boy lay in an exhausted sleep. Roused by the clamor, he staggered
dazedly to his feet, unaware of Ptolemy's touch upon his shoulder. Ptolemy
walked to the bed's head and folded back the sheet. Alexander lay in an
inscrutable composure. Even his color seemed hardly changed. His golden hair
with its bright silver streaks felt, to the touch, still charged with life.
Niarchos and Seleukos, who had followed Ptolemy, exclaimed that it was a
miracle, that it proved Alexander's divinity. Ptolemy, who had been his
fellow-student with Aristotle, looked down in silence, wondering how long a
secret spark of that strong life had burned in the still body. He laid a hand
on the heart, but it was over now, the corpse was stiffening. He drew the
sheet over the marmoreal face, and turned to the ranks that were forming to
hold the bolted doors. The squires, who knew the room in detail, dragged up
the heavy clothes-chests to form a barricade. But it could not last for long.
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The men outside were well used to pushing. Six or seven ranks deep, they
leaned upon the doors as, ten years back, they had leaned with their
fifteen-foot sarissas on Darius' levies; and, like the Persians at the
Granikos, at Issos, at Guagamela, the doors gave way. Grinding along the
floor, the bronze-bound chests were heaved aside. As the foremost thrust in,
Perdikkas knew himself unable to cut them down, and be the first with the
shame of bloodshed in this room. He called back his men to bar the way to the
royal bed. In a brief pause, the attackers looked about them. The ranks of the
defenders screened the body, they saw only the spread wings of the gold
daimons and their fierce alien eyes. They shouted defiance, but came no
nearer. There was movement behind them. Philip came in. Though Meleager was
with him, he was here of his own accord. When a person died, his family must
see to him. All motives of policy had passed over Philip like unmeaning noise;
but he knew his duty. "Where's Alexander?" he called to the bristling barrier
before the bed. "I'm his brother. I want to bury him." The generals gritted
their teeth in silence. It was the squires whose yells of wrath and spat-out
insults broke the loaded pause. They had no reverence for the dead, because in
their central consciousness Alexander was still alive. They shouted for him as
if he were lying on a battlefield senseless with wounds, beset by cowards who
would not have faced him on his feet. Their whoops and war-cries set off all
the young men in the Companions, who remembered their own days as squires.
"Alexander! Alexander!" From somewhere in the press, making a little
whiffling sound as the spin-strap launched it, a javelin hurtled across and
rang on Perdikkas' helmet. In moments more were flying. A Companion knelt
pouring blood from a severed leg-vein; a squire who had come helmetless had a
slashed scalp and was masked in scarlet, his blue eyes staring through. Till
it came to close quarters, the defenders were sitting game. They had brought
only their short curved cavalry sabers, symbol of their rank, to what should
have been a purely civil occasion. Perdikkas picked up the javelin that had
struck him and hurled it back. Others, plucking them from the bodies of the
wounded, held them to serve as spears. Ptolemy, taking a step back to avoid a
missile, collided with someone, cursed, and turned to look. It was the Persian
boy, blood staining his linen sleeve from a gashed arm. He had thrown it up to
ward a javelin from Alexander's body. "Stop!" shouted Ptolemy across the
room. "Are we wild beasts or men?" From beyond the doors, the hubbub still
continued; but it trailed off, damped by the hush of those in front to a kind
of shamefaced muttering. It was Niarchos the Cretan who said, "Let them
look." Grasping their weapons, the defenders made a gap. Niarchos uncovered
Alexander's face and stood back, silent. The opposing line fell still. The
crowd behind, jostling to see, felt the change and paused. Presently in the
front a grizzled phalanx captain stepped a pace forward and took his helmet
off. Two or three veterans followed. The first faced around to the men behind
him, lifted his arm and shouted, "Halt!" Somberly, in a kind of sullen grief,
the parties looked at one another. By ones and twos the senior officers
unhelmed themselves and stood forth to be known. The defenders lowered their
weapons. The old captain began to speak. "There's my brother!" Philip, who
had been elbowed aside, pushed forward. He still had on the robe of Alexander,
pushed askew and crumpled. "He has to have a funeral." "Be quiet!” hissed
Meleager. Obediently-moments like this were familiar in his life-Philip let
himself be hustled out of sight. The old captain, red-faced, recovered his
presence of mind. "Gentlemen," he said, "you are outnumbered, as you see. We
have all acted in haste, and I daresay we all regret it. I propose a
parley." Perdikkas said, "On one condition. The body of the King shall be
left inviolate, and every man here shall swear it by the gods below. I will
take my oath that when a fitting bier is ready, I will have it taken to the
royal burial ground in Macedon. Unless these vows are solemnized, none of us
will leave this place while we can stand and fight." They agreed. They were
all ashamed. Perdikkas' words about the royal burial ground had brought them
sharply down to earth. What would they have done with the body if they had
taken it? Buried it in the park? One look at that remote proud face had
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sobered them. A miracle he was not stinking; yet you would have thought he was
still alive. A superstitious shiver had run down many backs; Alexander would
make a powerful ghost. On the terrace a goat was slaughtered; men touched the
carcass or the blood, invoking the curse of Hades if they were forsworn. Owing
to their numbers it took some time; as twilight fell they were still swearing
by torchlight. Meleager, the first to swear under Perdikkas' eye, watched,
brooding. He had lost support and knew it. Only some thirty, the hard core of
his partisans, still rallied round him; and even those because they were now
marked men, frightened of reprisals. He must keep them, at least. While the
sunset dusk hummed with the noises of an anxious fermenting city, he had been
giving the matter thought. If he could separate the Bodyguard... thirty to
only eight... The last men had scrambled through their oaths. He approached
Perdikkas with a sober placating face. "I acted rashly. The King's death has
overset us all. Tomorrow we can meet and take better counsel." "So I hope."
Perdikkas frowned under his dark brows. "All of us would be ashamed," went on
Meleager smoothly, "if the near friends of Alexander were kept from watching
beside him. I beg you"-his gesture embraced the Bodyguard-"return and keep
your vigil." "Thank you," said Niarchos, quite sincerely. He had hoped to do
it. Perdikkas paused, his soldier's instinct indefinably wary. It was Ptolemy
who said, "Meleager has taken his oath to respect Alexander's body. Has he
taken one for ours?" Perdikkas' eyes sought Meleager’s, which shifted in
spite of him. All together, with looks of profound contempt, the Bodyguard
walked off to join the Companions encamped in the royal park. Presently they
sent messengers to the Egyptian quarter, summoning the embalmers to begin
their work at dawn. "Where were you all day, Konon?" said Philip, as his hot
clothes were lifted off him. "Why didn't they fetch you when I said?" Konon,
an elderly veteran who had served him for ten years, said, "I was at Assembly,
sir. Never mind, you shall have your nice bath now, with the scented
oil." "I'm King now, Konon. Did they tell you I'm the King?" "Yes, sir. Long
life to you, sir." "Konon, now I'm King, you won't go away?" "No, sir, old
Konon will look after you. Now let file have this beautiful new robe to brush
it and keep it safe. It's too good for every day... Why, come, come, sir,
you've no call to cry." In the Royal Bedchamber, as the evening cooled, the
body of Alexander stiffened like stone. With a bloodstained towel round his
arm, the Persian boy put by the bed the night-table of malachite and ivory,
and kindled the nightlamp on it. The floor was strewn with the debris of the
fighting. Someone had lurched against the console with the images of
Hephaistion; they lay sprawled like the fallen after a battle. In the faint
light, Bagoas took a long look at them, and turned away. But in a few minutes
he went back and stood them up neatly, each in its place. Then, fetching a
stool lest sitting on the dais he might sleep again, he folded his hands and
composed himself to watch, his dark eyes staring into the dark shadows. The
harem at Susa was Persian, not Assyrian. Its proportions were elegantly
balanced; its fluted columns had capitals sculpted with lotus-buds by
craftsmen from Greece; its walls were faced with delicately enameled tiles,
and the sunlight dappled them through lattices of milky alabaster. Queen
Sisygambis, the mother of Darius, sat in her high-backed chair, a
granddaughter on either side. At eighty she kept the hawk-nosed, ivorine face
of the old Elamite nobility; the pure Persian strain, unmixed with Median. She
was brittle now; in her youth she had been tall. She was robed and scarved in
deep indigo, but for her breast, on which glowed a great necklace of polished
pigeon-blood rubies, the gift of King Poros to Alexander, and of Alexander to
her. Stateira, the elder girl, was reading a letter aloud, slowly,
translating it from Greek to Persian. Alexander had had both girls taught to
read Greek as well as speak it. From affection for him, Sisygambis had allowed
him to indulge this whim, though in her view clerking was somewhat menial, and
more properly left to the palace eunuchs. However, he must be allowed the
customs of his people. He could not help his upbringing, and was never
purposely discourteous. He should have been a Persian. Stateira read,
stumbling a little, not from ignorance but from agitation. ALEXANDER KING OF
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THE MACEDONIANS AND LORD OF ASIA, to his honored wife Stateira. Wishing to
look upon your face again, I desire you to set out for Babylon without delay,
so that your child may be born here. If you bear a boy, I intend to proclaim
him my heir. Hasten your journey. I have been sick, and my people tell me
there is ignorant talk that I am dead. Do you pay no heed to it. My
chamberlains are commanded to receive you with honor, as the mother of a Great
King to be. Bring Drypetis your sister, who is my sister also for the sake of
one who was dear to me as myself. May all be well with you. Stateira lowered
the letter and looked down at her grandmother. The child of two tall parents,
she stood nearly six feet without her slippers. Much of her mother's famous
beauty had passed to her. She was queenly in everything but pride. "What shall
we do?" she said. Sisygambis looked up impatiently under her white brows.
"First finish the King's letter." "Madam grandmother, that is all." "No,"
said Sisygambis with irritation. "Look again, child. What does he say to
me?" "Madam grandmother, that is the end." "You must be mistaken. Women
should not meddle with writing; I told him so, but he would have his way. You
had better call a clerk, to read it properly." "Truly, there is no more
writing on the paper. May all be well with you. See, it stops here." The
strong lines of Sisygambis' face slackened a little; her years showed like
sickness. "Is the messenger still here? Fetch him, see if he has another
letter. These men tire on the road and it makes them stupid." The rider was
brought, gulping from his meal. He pledged his head he had received one letter
only, one from the King. He shook out his wallet before them. When he had
gone, Sisygambis said, "Never has he sent to Susa without a word to me. Show
me the seal." But her sight had lengthened with age, and even at arms' length
she could not make out the figure. "It is his likeness, madam grandmother. It
is like the one on my emerald, that he gave me on my wedding day; only here he
has a wreath, and on mine he wears a diadem." Sisygambis nodded, and sat
awhile in silence. There were earlier royal letters in the care of the Head
Chamberlain; but she did not like to let such people know that her eyes were
failing. Presently she said, "He writes that he has been sick. He will be
behindhand with all his business. Now he is overtaxing himself, as his nature
is. When he was here, I saw he was short of breath... Go child, fetch me your
women; you too, Drypetis. I must tell them what to pack for you." Young
Drypetis, the widow of Hephaistion (she was seventeen) moved to obey, then ran
back to kneel beside the chair. "Baba, please come with us to
Babylon." Sisygambis rested her fine-boned old ivory hand on the young girl's
head. "The King has told you to hurry on the road. I am too old. And besides,
he has not summoned me." When the women had been instructed, and all the
flurry had moved to the girls' bedchamber, she sat on in her straight-backed
chair, tears trickling down her cheeks and falling upon King Poros'
rubies. In the Royal Bedchamber of Babylon, now redolent of spices and of
niter, the Egyptians who were the heirs of their fathers' art pursued the
elaborate task of embalming the latest Pharaoh. Shocked at the delay which
would surely undo their skill, they had tiptoed in by dawnlight, and beheld
the corpse with awed amazement. As their slaves brought in the instruments,
the vessels and fluids and aromatics of their art, the single watcher, a
white-faced Persian youth, extinguished his lamp and vanished like a ghost in
silence. Before slitting the torso to remove the entrails, they remembered,
far though they were from the Valley of the Kings, to lift their hands in the
traditional prayer, that it might be lawful for mortals to handle the body of
a god. The narrow streets of ancient Babylon hummed with rumor and
counterrumor. There were lamps burning all night. Days passed; the armies of
Perdikkas and Meleager waited in armed truce; the infantry around the palace,
the cavalry in the royal park, beside the horse-lines where Nebuchadrezzar had
kept his chariots for the lion-hunt. Outnumbered four to one, they had
discussed moving to the plains outside, where there was room for horse to
deploy. "No," said Perdikkas. 'That would concede defeat. Give them time to
take a look at their booby King. They'll come round. Alexander's army has
never been divided." On the parade ground and in the palace gardens, the men
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of the phalanx bivouacked as best they could. Stubbornly they clung to their
victors' pride and their rooted xenophobia. No barbarian should rule their
sons, they told each other across the campfires, where their Persian women,
whom Alexander had induced them to marry lawfully, were stirring their
supper-pots. They had long ago spent Alexander's dowries; not one man in a
hundred meant to take home his woman when he was paid off. They thought with
confused resentment of the young bloods in the Companions, drinking and
hunting beside the sons of Persian lords with their curled beards and inlaid
weapons and bedizened horses. It was well enough for the cavalry; they could
afford to Persianize without losing face. But the foot-men, sons of Macedonian
farmers, herdsmen and hunters, masons and carpenters, owned only what the wars
had won them, their little hoards of loot, and, above all, the just reward for
all their toils and dangers, the knowledge that whoever their fathers might
have been, they were Alexander's Macedonians, masters of the world. Clinging
to this treasure of self-esteem, they spoke well of Philip, his modesty, his
likeness to his great father, his pure Macedonian blood. Their officers, whose
affairs took them into the royal presence, came back increasingly taciturn.
The enormous business of Alexander's empire could not come to a standstill.
Envoys, tax-collectors, shipbuilders, officers of the commissariat,
architects, disputing satraps seeking arbitration, still appeared in the
anterooms; indeed, in augmented numbers, many having waited for audience
through Alexander's illness. Not only had they to be dealt with; they had to
find a visible, believable King. Before each appearance, Meleager briefed
Philip carefully. He had learned to go, unled, straight to his throne, without
wandering off to speak to some chance person who had caught his eye; to keep
his voice down so that he was seen, but not heard to speak, enabling Meleager
beside him to proclaim suitable replies. He had learned not to call while
enthroned for lemonade or sweets, or to ask permission from his guard of honor
when he wanted to go outside. His scratching himself, picking his nose and
fidgeting could never be quite controlled; but if his appearances were kept
short, he presented as a rule a quiet and sober figure. Meleager had
appointed himself to the post of Chiliarch, or Grand Vizier, created for
Hephaistion and inherited by Perdikkas. Standing at the King's right hand,
flamboyantly panoplied, he knew that he looked impressive; but he knew too,
all too well, what a soldier thinks when the chief to whom he has come for
orders speaks through an intermediary and never looks him in the face. His
officers, all of whom had had free access to Alexander, could not be kept out;
nor could the royal guard. And all of them, he felt it through his skin, were
looking at the stout stocky figure on the throne, the slack mouth and
wandering stare, and seeing in mind's eye the dynamic vanished presence, the
alert responsive face, the serene authority, that now lay stilled forever in
the locked Bedchamber, submerged in the embalmers' bath of niter, preparing to
abide the centuries. Beyond all     this, Persian    officers   appointed by
Alexander could not be refused audience, and were not fools. The thought of a
concerted rising, against a mutinous divided army, gave him waking
nightmares. Like other men who have indulged a long rancorous hate, he blamed
all adversity upon its object, never considering that his hatred, not his
enemy, had created his predicament. Like other such men before and after him,
he saw only one remedy, and resolved to seek it. Philip was still in his old
apartments, which, having been chosen for him by Alexander, were pleasant and
cool, at least for Babylon in midsummer. When Meleager had tried to move him
into more regal quarters, he had refused with shouts so loud that the palace
guard had come running, thinking murder was being done. Here Meleager sought
him, taking with him a kinsman, a certain Duris, who carried writing
things. The King was occupied happily with his stones. He had a chest full,
collected over thousands of miles of Asia as he trailed along after the army;
pebbles he had picked up for himself, mixed with bits of amber, quartz, agate,
old seals, and colored glass jewels from Egypt, which Alexander or Ptolemy or
Hephaistion had brought him when they happened to remember. He had arranged
them in a long winding path across the room, and was on his hands and knees
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improving it. At Meleager's entrance he scrambled guiltily to his feet,
clutching a favorite lump of Scythian turquoise, which he hid behind his back
lest it be taken away. "Sire!" said Meleager harshly. Philip, recognizing
this as a severe rebuke, hastened over to the most important chair, carefully
stuffing the turquoise under the cushion. "Sir," said Meleager standing over
him, "I have come to tell you that you are in grave danger. No, don't be
afraid, I will defend you. But the traitor Perdikkas, who tried to steal
Alexander's body and rob you of the throne, is plotting to take your life, and
make himself King." Philip jumped to his feet, stammering incoherently.
Presently Meleager made out, "He said... Alexander said... He can be King if
he wants to. I don't mind. Alexander told me they mustn't make me King." With
some trouble, Meleager freed his arm from a grip he had feared would break it.
"Sir, if he is King his first act will be to kill you. Your only safety is in
killing him. See, here is the paper ordering his death." Duris set it, with
pen and ink, upon the table. "Just write PHILIP here, as I taught you. I will
help you, if you like." "And then you'll kill him before he kills me?" "Yes,
and all our troubles will be over. Write it here." The blot with which he
began did not efface the writing; and he produced, after that, a quite
tolerable signature. Perdikkas' lodging was one of the grace-and-favor houses
built in the royal park by the Persian kings, and bestowed on his friends by
Alexander. Around it were encamped the royal squires. They had attached
themselves to Perdikkas as Alexander's chosen Regent. Though they had not
offered to wait upon his person, and he had known better than to ask it, they
rode with his messages, and guarded him in their accustomed rota by day and
night. He was consulting with Ptolemy when one of them came in. "Sir. An old
man is asking for you." "Thirty at least," said Ptolemy flippantly. Perdikkas
said crisply, "Well?" "He says, sir, he's the servant of Arridaios." The
honorific Philip was not used on the Companions' side of the river. "He says
it's urgent." "Is his name Konon?" said Ptolemy sharply. “Perdikkas, I know
this man. You had better see him." "So I intended." Perdikkas spoke rather
stiffly. He found Ptolemy too easygoing and informal, traits which Alexander
had regrettably not discouraged. "Bring him in, but search him for weapons
first." Old Konon, profoundly ill at ease, gave an old soldier's salute,
stood to attention, and said nothing till given leave. "Sir, with permission.
They've made my poor master sign a paper against you. I was in his bedroom,
seeing to his things, they never thought to look. Sir, don't hold him to
blame. They took advantage of him. He never meant harm to you, not of his own
accord." "I believe you," said Perdikkas frowning. "But it seems that harm is
done." "Sir. If he falls into your hands, don't kill him, sir. He was never
any trouble, not in King Alexander's day." "Rest assured we have no such
wish." This man could be useful, his charge more useful still. "When the army
returns to duty, I will have your master well cared for. Do you want to stay
with him?" "Sir, yes sir. I've been with him nearly from a boy. I don't know
how he'd go on without me." "Very good. Permission granted. Tell him, if he
will understand you, that he has nothing to fear from me." "I will, sir, and
God bless you." He left, saluting smartly. "An easy favor," said Perdikkas to
Ptolemy. "Did he think we could afford to kill Alexander's brother? Meleager,
now..." Later, his day's business done, Perdikkas was sitting down to supper
when raised voices sounded outside. From the window he saw a company of a
hundred foot-soldiers. The squires on duty numbered sixteen. He was too old a
campaigner to have changed into a supper-robe. In moments, with the speed of
two decades' practice, he had whipped his corselet from the stand and clasped
it on. A panting squire dashed in, saluting with one hand while the other
waved a paper. "Sir! It's a summons from the rebels. A royal warrant they
call it." "Royal, eh?" said Perdikkas calmly. The missive was brief; he read
it aloud. "PHILIP SON OF PHILIP KING OF THE MACEDONIANS AND LORD OF ASIA, To
the former Chiliarch Perdikkas. You are hereby summoned to appear before me,
to answer a charge of treason. If you resist the escort has orders to use
force." "Sir, we can hold them. Do you want a message sent?" Not for nothing
had Perdikkas served directly under Alexander. He laid his hand on the boy's
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shoulder, shaping his austere face into the needed smile, "Good lad. No, no
message. Guard, stand to arms. I will talk to this squad of Meleager’s”. The
squire's salute had the faint reflection of a remembered ardor. Perhaps,
thought Perdikkas, I can show Acting Chiliarch Meleager why I, and not he, got
promoted to the Bodyguard. He had had twelve years to absorb a basic
Alexander precept: Do it with style. Unlike Alexander, he had had to work for
it, but he knew what it was worth. On his own account, needing instruction
from no one, he could deliver a memorable dressing-down. Striding bareheaded
onto the porch, the summons in his hand, he paused formidably for effect, and
began to speak. He had recognized the officer-he had a good general's
memory-and reviewed in detail the last campaign in which they had all served
under his own command. Alexander had once spoken highly of them. What did they
suppose themselves to be doing, disgracing themselves like this; they who had
once been men, and even, God help them, soldiers? Could they face Alexander
now? Even before he was King, the wittol bastard had been used in intrigue
against him; anyone else would have had him put out of the way; but he in the
greatness of his heart had cared for him as a harmless innocent. If King
Philip had wished a fool to bear his name, he would have said so. King Philip!
King Ass. Who would believe that men of Alexander's could come here as
servants of Meleager, a man he had known too well to trust with a division, to
sell the life of the man he himself had chosen to command them? Let them go
back to their comrades, and remind them who they had been, and what they had
sunk to now. Let them ask themselves how they liked it. They could now
dismiss. After an uneasy, shuffling silence, the troop captain rapped out
gruffly, "About turn! March." Meantime, the squires on watch had been joined
by every squire in hearing. When the troop departed, they gathered round
Perdikkas and cheered. Without effort this time, he returned their triumphant
grins. Almost, for a moment, he felt like Alexander. No, he thought as he
went in. People used to eat him alive. They had to touch him, his hands, his
clothes. I've seen them fighting to reach him. Those fools at Opis, when he'd
forgiven them for rioting, demanded the right to kiss him... Well, that was
his mystery, which I shall never have. But then, nor will anyone
else. Slowly, against the stream, the rowers' labor lightened sometimes by a
flaw of wind from the south, the canopied barge meandered along the Tigris. On
linen cushions stuffed with wool and down, waving their fans, the two
princesses stretched like young cats, luxuriating in smooth movement and the
cool air off the water, after the jolting heat of their covered wagon. Within
the awning, their duenna was fast asleep. Along the tow-path trundled the
wagon and the baggage-cart, the escort of armed mounted eunuchs, the muleteers
and the household slaves. When the caravan passed a village, all the peasants
would gather on the bank to stare. "If only," sighed Stateira, "he had not
told us to hurry. One could go all the way by water, downstream to the Gulf,
and up the Euphrates to Babylon." She settled the cushions in her back, which
had the ache of pregnancy. Drypetis, fingering her dark-blue widow's veil,
looked over her shoulder to be sure the duenna was sleeping. "Will he give me
another husband?" "I don't know." Stateira looked away at the river-bank.
"Don't ask him yet. He won't like it. He thinks you still belong to
Hephaistion. He won't let Hephaistion's regiment ever have another name."
Feeling a desolate silence behind her, she said, "If I have a boy, I’ll ask
him." She lay back in the cushions and closed her eyes. The sun, splintering
through tall clumps of papyrus, made shifting patterns in the rose-red light
that filtered through her eyelids. It was like the sun-glowing crimson
curtains of the wedding pavilion at Susa. Her face burned, as always when the
memory came back to her. She had been, of course, presented to the King
before. Grandmother had ensured that she made the deepest curtsey, before he
took his tall chair and she her low one. But the wedding ritual could not be
evaded; it had followed the Persian rite. She had been led in by her dead
mother's brother, a fine tall man. Then the King had risen from his chair of
state, as the bridegroom must, to greet her with a kiss and lead her to the
chair beside him. She had performed, for the kiss, the little genuflection
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Grandmamma had taught her; but then she had to stand up, there was no way out
of it. She was half a head taller, and ready to die of shame. When the
trumpets had sounded, and the herald announced that they were man and wife, it
was Drypetis' turn. The King's friend, Hephaistion, had stood up and come
forward, the most beautiful man she had ever seen, stately and tall-with his
dark-gold hair, he could have been one of the fair Persians-and taken her
sister's hand, matching her height to a hair. All the King's friends, the
other bridegrooms, had given a kind of sigh; she knew that when the King had
stepped out to meet her they had been holding their breath. At the end, he and
she had had to lead out the procession to the bridal chambers. She had wished
that the earth might swallow her. In the crimson pavilion with its golden
bed, he had likened her to a daughter of the gods (her Greek was quite good by
then), and she had seen that he meant well; but since nothing could do away
those dreadful moments, she would have preferred him to keep silence. He was a
powerful presence, and she was shy; though the defect was his, it was she who
had felt like an ungainly tent-pole. All she had been able to think about in
the marriage bed was that her father had run away in battle, and Grandmother
would never speak his name. She must redeem the honor of her house by courage.
He had been kind, and hardly hurt her; but it had all been so strange, so
overpowering, she could hardly utter a word. No wonder she had not conceived,
and that though he had paid her visits of compliment while still at Susa, and
brought her gifts, he had never once had her to bed again. To crown these
miseries, she had known that somewhere in the palace was the King's Bactrian
wife, whom he had taken along to India. A stranger to sexual pleasure,
Stateira knew no sexual jealousy; but its fiercest torments could hardly have
been more wounding than her thoughts of Roxane, Little Star, favorite and
confidante. She pictured them lying side by side in tender love-making,
intimate talk, amusing gossip, laughter-perhaps at her. As for Bagoas the
Persian, she had heard nothing of him at her father's court, and nothing
since. She had been carefully brought up. The King's sojourn at Susa had gone
by, its great political events dimly heard of and little understood. Then he
had gone on his summer progress to Ekbatana. He had called to take leave of
her (would he have done even that, except to see Grandmother?) without a word
of when he would send for her or where he had gone, taking the Bactrian woman;
and she had cried all night from shame and anger. But last spring, when he
had come to Susa after the mountain war, it had all been different; no
ceremony, no crowds. He had been shut up alone with Grandmother, and it
almost seemed that she had heard him weeping. In the evening they had all
dined together; they were his family, he said. He looked lean, weather-beaten
and weary; but he talked, as she had never heard him do before. At the first
sight of Drypetis in her widow's veil, his face had frozen in a dreadful
grief; but he had covered it quickly, and enthralled them with tales of India,
its marvels and its customs. Then he spoke of his plans to explore the coast
of Arabia, to make a road along north Africa and extend his empire westward.
And he had said, "So much to do, so little time. My mother was right; long
before now, I should have begotten an heir." He had looked at her; and she
had known it was she, not the Bactrian, who was the chosen one. She had come
to him in a passion of gratitude, which had proved as efficacious as any other
ardor. Soon after he had gone, she knew that she had conceived, and
Grandmother had sent him word. It was good that he had summoned her to
Babylon. If he was still sick, she would tend him with her own hands. She
would make no jealous scenes about the Bactrian. A king was entitled to his
concubines; and, as Grandmother had warned her, much trouble could spring from
quarrels in the harem. The soldiers sent to arrest Perdikkas had seen, as he
had advised, what had become of them, and did not like it. They went among
their comrades, reporting his courage and their discomfiture; and relating,
what he himself had first revealed to them, that Meleager had meant to have
his head. They had been anxious, restless, volatile. While Meleager was still
digesting failure, suddenly they were roaring at his doors like a human sea.
The guards on duty abandoned their posts and joined them. In a cold sweat, he
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saw himself dying, like a boar at bay, in a ring of spears. With the speed of
desperation, he made for the royal rooms. In a cheerful lamplight, Philip was
seated at his evening meal, a favorite dish, spiced venison with pumpkin
fritters. A jug of lemonade stood by him; he was not reliable if given wine.
When Meleager burst in, he expressed annoyance with his eyes, since his mouth
was full. Konon, who was waiting at table, looked up sharply. He was wearing
his old sword; he had heard the noise. "Sir," panted Meleager, "the traitor
Perdikkas has repented, and the soldiers want him spared. Please go and tell
them you have pardoned him." Philip bolted his mouthful to reply indignantly,
"I can't come now. I'm having my dinner." Konon took a step forward. Looking
Meleager in the eye, he said, "He was taken advantage of." His hand rested, as
if by chance, on his well-polished sword-belt. Keeping his head, Meleager
said, "My good man, the King will be safer on his throne than anywhere else in
Babylon. You know that; you were at Assembly. Sir, come at once." A persuasive
argument occurred to him. "Your brother would have done so." Philip put down
his knife and wiped his mouth. "Is that right, Konon? Would Alexander
go?" Konon's hand fell to his side. "Yes, sir. Yes, he would go." As he was
steered to the door, Philip looked back regretfully at his dinner-plate, and
wondered why Konon was wiping his eyes. The army was placated for the time,
but far from satisfied. Audiences in the Throne Room were going badly. The
envoys' regrets for the late King's untimely death grew less formal and more
pointed. Meleager felt his power increasingly unstable, and discipline
crumbling by the day. Meantime, the cavalry had taken counsel. Suddenly one
morning they were found to have disappeared. The park was empty of everything
but horse-droppings. They had made their way through the crumbling outer
walls, and deployed to invest the city. Babylon was under siege. Much of the
terrain outside was swampy; it needed no great force to close the solid
causeways and the firm open ground. As planned, the refugees were unmolested.
At all the gates, with a hubbub of shouting men, wailing children, burbling
camels, bleating goats and crackling poultry, the country people who feared
war were pouring into the city, and the city people who feared famine were
pouring out Meleager could have dealt with a foreign enemy. But he knew too
well that he could no longer trust his troops for even the briefest contact
with their former comrades. They were forgetting the threat of unborn
barbarian heirs, and homesick for the familiar discipline of the old
triumphant days, the officers who had linked them to Alexander, Less than a
month ago, they had been limbs of a well-knit body directed by a fiery spirit.
Now each man felt his isolation in a foreign world. Soon they would take
revenge for it. In this extremity, he went to consult Eumenes. Throughout
the turmoil since Alexander's death, the Secretary had gone quietly about his
business. A man of humble origins, discovered and trained by Philip, advanced
by Alexander, he had been, and remained, uncommitted in the present strife. He
had neither joined the Companions nor denounced them. His work, he said, was
to carry on the kingdom's business. He had helped with replies to the envoys
and the embassies, drawing on his records, and had drafted letters in the name
of Philip, but without the title of King (it had been added by Meleager). When
pressed to take sides, he would only say that he was a Greek, and politics
were the concern of the Macedonians. Meleager found him at his writing-table,
dictating to his clerk, who was taking it down on wax. Next day he bathed
again, and sacrificed the appointed offerings, and after the sacrifice
remained in constant fever. Yet even so, he sent for the officers, and ordered
them to see that everything was ready for the expedition. He bathed again in
the evening, and after that became gravely ill... "Eumenes," said Meleager,
who had been standing ignored in the doorway, "let the dead rest awhile. You
are needed by the living." "The living need the truth, before rumor pollutes
it." He motioned to his clerk, who folded his tablet and went out. Meleager
outlined his dilemma, aware as he went that the Secretary had long since
assessed it all, and was waiting impatiently for him to finish. He trailed to
a lame conclusion. Eumenes said without emotion, "My opinion, since you ask
it, is that it is not too late to seek a compromise. And it is too late for
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anything else." Meleager had already been driven to this view, but wanted to
have it confirmed by someone else, whom he could blame if things went wrong.
"I accept your advice. This is, if the men agree." Eumenes said drily,
"Perhaps the King can persuade them." Meleager ignored the double edge. "One
man could do it: yourself. Your honor is unquestioned, your experience known.
Will you address the Macedonians?" Eumenes had long since taken his measure.
His own sole loyalty was to the house of Philip and Alexander, who had lifted
him from obscurity to prestige and power. Had Philip Arridaios been competent,
he would have felt divided loyalties; but he knew what the elder Philip had
thought about that, and was for the son of Alexander, unborn, unseen. Yet
Philip was the son of Philip his benefactor, who had seen fit to acknowledge
him; and Eumenes would protect him if he could. He was a dry, cool man, whose
inward feelings few suspected; he had no taste for protestations. He said,
"Very well." He was well received. A man in his fifties, spare and erect,
with the subtler features of the south yet a soldier's bearing, he said what
was needed and no more. He made no attempt to emulate Alexander, whose sense
of his audience had been an artist's gift. Eumenes' talent was for sounding
reasonable, and keeping to the point. Reassured by hearing their confused
misgivings reduced to logic, the Assembly accepted his conclusions with
relief. Envoys were sent to the camp of Perdikkas, to treat for terms. As they
rode out at sunrise from the Ishtar Gate, crowds of anxious Babylonians
watched them off. They were back before noon. Perdikkas would raise the siege
and reconcile the armies, as soon as Meleager and his accomplices gave
themselves up to justice. By now, any discipline still left among the troops
in Babylon was self-imposed from dim feelings of dignity, depending chiefly on
the popularity of any officer concerned. The returning envoys shouted back
their message to anyone who stopped them in the street to ask. While Meleager
was still reading Perdikkas' letter, the troops were pouring into the hall of
audience, having called their own Assembly. Eumenes in his business room
listened to the rumble of conflicting voices, and the scrape of boot-nails
continuing the ruin of the marble floor. A stair in the thickness of the wall
had a window which overlooked the hall. He saw that the soldiers had not come
armed only with token weapons; despite the heat, they had on their corselets;
helmets were worn, not held. A visible division was starting; on one side the
men who were for accepting the conditions; on the other, alarmed and angry,
those who had committed themselves irretrievably to Meleager. The rest were
waiting to have their minds made up for them. This, Eumenes thought, is how
civil wars begin. He made his way to the royal rooms. Meleager was there,
standing over Philip and coaching him in a speech. Philip, more aware of his
sweating desperation than of anything he said, was fidgeting, not taking in a
word. "What," asked Eumenes bluntly, "are you telling him to say?" Meleager's
light-blue eyes, always prominent, were now bloodshot too. "To say no, of
course." In the level voice to which even Alexander in anger had paid
attention, Eumenes said, "If he says that, swords will be out before you can
take breath. Have you looked in the hall? Look now." A big, heavy hand
clutched Eumenes' shoulder. He turned, startled. It had never occurred to him
that Philip would be strong. "I don't want to say it. I can't remember it.
Tell him I’ve forgotten." "Never mind," said Eumenes quietly. "We will think
of something else." The royal fanfare made a brief silence in the hall.
Philip came forward, Eumenes just behind him. "Macedonians!" He paused,
reminding himself of the words the kind, calm man had taught him. "There is no
need for strife. The peacemakers will be the victors here." He almost turned
round for approval; but the kind man had told him not to. A pleased murmur
went round the hall. The King had sounded just like anyone else. "Do not
condemn free citizens..." prompted Eumenes softly. "Do not condemn free
citizens, unless you wish for civil war." He paused again; Eumenes, screening
his lips with his hand, gave him his lines. "Let us try again for
reconcilement. Let us send another embassy." He drew a breath of triumph.
Eumenes whispered, "Don’t look round." There was no serious opposition. All
welcomed a breathing-space, and argued only the ways and means; but as the
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voices grew louder, they brought back to Philip that dreadful day when he had
run away from the hall, and they had given him a robe to make him come back
again, and then... Alexander had been lying dead, as if he were carved in
marble. Alexander had told him... He felt at his head, at the gold diadem
they always made him wear when he came out here. He took it off, and, holding
it out, walked forward. Behind him, Meleager and Eumenes gave a united gasp
of dismay. He extended, confidingly, the crown to the staring soldiers. "Is it
because I'm King? It doesn't matter. I'd sooner not be King. Here, look; you
can give it to someone else." It was a curious moment. Everyone had been at
stretch, till the half-relief of borrowed time. Now this. Always prone to
emotion-a trait which Alexander had used with unfailing skill-the Macedonians
were borne on a flood of sentiment. What a decent, good fellow; what a
law-abiding King. Living under his brother's shadow had made him over-modest.
No one laughed as he looked about for someone to take the crown. There were
reassuring cries of "Long live Philip, Philip for King!" With happy surprise,
Philip resumed his crown. He had got everything right, and the kind man would
be pleased with him. He was still beaming when they shepherded him
inside. Perdikkas' tent was pitched in the shade of a tall palm-grove. He was
settled back into surroundings so familiar that he seemed never to have left
them; the light bed and folding chair, the armor-stand, the chest (there had
been a pile of chests in the days of victorious loot, but that was over), the
trestle table. His brother Alketas and his cousin Leonnatos were with him
when the new envoys came. Leonnatos was a long-boned auburn-haired man, who
reminded the world of his connections with the royal house by copying
Alexander's leonine haircut, even, said his enemies, reproducing its wave with
the tongs. His ambitions, though high, were as yet inchoate; meantime he
supported Perdikkas. The envoys had been sent out while their message was
considered. Peace was offered in King Philip's name, if his claim was
recognized, and his deputy, Meleager, was appointed to share the supreme
command with Perdikkas. Leonnatos tossed back his hair; a gesture rarely used
by Alexander, which in his pupil had become a mannerism. "Insolence! Do we
need to disturb the others?" Perdikkas glanced up from the letter. "Here," he
said easily, "I see the hand of Eumenes." "No doubt," said Alketas,
surprised. "Who else would write it?" "We will accept. Nothing could be
better." "What?" said Leonnatos, staring. "You can't take that brigand into
the command!" "I told you, I see the hand of Eumenes." Perdikkas stroked the
dark stubble on his chin. "He knew what bait would draw the beast from his
lair. Yes, let us have him out. Then we shall see." The barge on the Tigris
was nearing the bend where the ladies must disembark, to join their caravan
and proceed by land. Dusk was falling. Their tent had been pitched on grass,
away from the river-damp and the mosquitoes. They stepped ashore as the first
torches were kindled about the camp; there was a smell of burnt fat as the
lamb for supper sizzled over the fire. The chief eunuch of the escort, as he
handed Stateira off the gangplank said softly, “Madam, villagers who came
selling fruit are saying that the Great King is dead." "He warned me of it,"
she answered calmly. "He said there was this rumor among the peasants. It is
in his letter; he said we should not heed it." Holding up her gown from the
rushes heavy with dew, she swept on towards the lamplit tent. To a spirited
music of trumpets and double flutes, the foot-soldiers marched out under the
towers of the Ishtar Gate, watched by the relieved Babylonians, to seal their
peace with the Companions. At their head rode Meleager, the King beside him.
Philip made a cheerful and seemly figure, wearing the scarlet shoulder-cloak
that Alexander had once given him, sitting a well-trained, solid horse that
would walk half a length ahead of Konon with the leading-rein. He hummed to
himself the tune that the pipes were playing. The air was still fresh with
morning. All would be well, everyone was to be friends again. It would be no
trouble, now, to go on being King. The Companions waited on their glossy
horses, restive from leisure; their bridles sparkling with gold pendants and
silver cheek-rosettes, a fashion set by Alexander for Boukephalas. Dressed in
the workmanlike panoply of campaign, plain Thracian helmet and stamped leather
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cuirass, Perdikkas watched with grim satisfaction the marching phalanx, the
gaudy rider leading it. Meleager had had his parade armor adorned with a large
gold lion-mask, and his cloak was edged with bullion. So! The beast was
drawn. They accorded Philip the royal salute. Well coached, he acknowledged
it and reached out his arm; Perdikkas bore, with resolute affability, the
crushing of his huge paw. But Meleager, with a look offensively familiar, had
pushed up after, his own hand ready for the clasp of reconciliation. It was
with far greater reluctance that Perdikkas returned that grip. He told himself
that Alexander had once had to break bread with the traitor Philotas, biding
his time; and if he had balked at it, few of his advance force, including
Perdikkas probably, would be alive today. "It was necessary," was what
Alexander had said. It was settled that the absent Krateros, considering his
high rank and royal lineage, should be appointed Philip's guardian. Antipatros
should keep the regency of Macedon. Perdikkas should be Chiliarch of all the
Asian conquests, and, if Roxane bore a boy, should be joint guardian with
Leonnatos. They were Alexander's kinsmen, which Meleager could not claim; but
since he was to share the high command, the distinction did not trouble him.
He had begun already to give them his views on the management of the
empire. When all this business was done, Perdikkas made a last proposal. It
was the ancient custom of Macedon, after civil war (another ancient custom) to
exorcise discord with a sacrifice to Hekate. He proposed that all the troops
in Babylon, horse and foot, should assemble on the plain for the
Purification. Meleager willingly agreed. He planned an impressive appearance,
proper to his new rank. He would have his helmet topped with a double crest,
like Alexander's at Gaugamela. Conspicuous; and a lucky omen. Shortly before
the rite, Perdikkas asked the Bodyguard to a private supper. He was back, now,
at his house in the royal park. The general rode or strolled over in the
falling twilight, under the ornamental trees brought from far and wide by the
Persian kings to adorn the paradise. A simple occasion, a meeting of old
friends. When the servants had left them with the wine, Perdikkas said, "I
have chosen the men and briefed them. I think that Philip-I suppose we must
get used to calling him that-will have learned his part." Till Krateros, his
new guardian, could take charge of him, Perdikkas was doing so. Since he lived
in his accustomed rooms, with his accustomed comforts, he had scarcely noticed
the change, except for the welcome absence of Meleager. He was getting new
lessons; but that was to be expected. "He has taken to Eumenes," Ptolemy
said. "Eumenes doesn't bully him." "Good. He can help to coach him. Let us
hope the noise and spectacle won't confuse him... There will be the
elephants." "Surely," said Leonnatos, "he has seen elephants by now?" "Of
course he has," Ptolemy said impatiently. "He traveled from India with them,
in Krateros' convoy." "Yes, true." Perdikkas paused. There was a silence, a
sense of more to come. Seleukos, to whose command the elephant corps belonged,
said, "Well?" "King Omphis," said Perdikkas slowly, "had a certain use for
them in India." There were sharply drawn breaths all round the
supper-couches. It was Niarchos who said distastefully, "Omphis maybe. Never
Alexander." "Alexander was never in our dilemma," said Leonnatos unwisely.
"No," returned Ptolemy. "Nor like to be." Perdikkas cut in, with brusque
authority. "No matter. Alexander knew very well the power of fear." The men
were astir at cockcrow, to march to the Field of Purgation at break of day,
and get the rite finished before the crushing heat of noon. The rich
wheatfields, which bore three crops a year, had been lately harvested. The
sun, floating up from the flat horizon, slanted its first beams over miles of
stubble, gleaming like golden fur. Here and there, scarlet pennants marked the
limits of the parade ground, which were significant to the rite. Thick and
squat, their ancient Assyrian brick mortared with black bitumen, jagged and
crumbling with the centuries and with the lassitude of a long-conquered race,
the walls of Babylon, impassive, overlooked the plain. They had seen many
deeds of men, and looked incapable of amazement. A wide stretch of their
battlements had been flattened down into a new, smooth platform. Its
smoke-blackened bricks still smelled of burning; streams of molten pitch had
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hardened down its sides. In the ditch below was a great pile of debris;
half-charred timber with broken carvings of lions and ships and wings and
trophies, still dimly picked out with gilding. It was the remains of the
two-hundred-foot pyre on which, not long before his death, Alexander had
burned the body of Hephaistion. Long before dawn, the crowds had started to
gather along the walls. They had not forgotten the splendors of Alexander's
entry into Babylon; a free show, for it had surrendered peacefully, and he had
forbidden his men to plunder it. They remembered the streets flower-strewn and
wafted with frankincense; the procession of exotic gifts, gold-bedizened
horses, lions and leopards in gilded cages; the Persian cavalry, the
Macedonian cavalry; and the gold-plated state chariot with the slight,
glittering figure of the victor like a transfigured boy. He had been
twenty-five, then. They had hoped for more splendors when he came back from
India; but he had given them only that stupendous funeral. Now they waited,
to see the Macedonian men of war march out in their pride, and offer their
gods appeasement; the citizens, the soldiers' women and children, the smiths
and tentmakers and sutlers and wagoners and whores, the shipwrights and seamen
from the galley-ships. They loved a show; but under expectation was a deep
unease. A time had gone, a time was coming; and they did not like the auspices
of its birth. Most of the army had crossed the river overnight, by Queen
Nitokris' Bridge, or by the innumerable ferryboats of reed and pitch. They
slept in the open, and polished their gear for the morrow. The watchers on the
walls saw them getting up by torchlight, the sound of their stirring like a
murmuring sea. Further away, the Companions' horses whinnied. Hooves drummed
on the timbers of Nitokris' Bridge. The leaders arrived, to direct the
sacrifice which would cleanse men's hearts from evil. The rite was very old.
The victim must be dedicated, killed and disemboweled, its four quarters and
its entrails carried to the boundaries of the field. The army would march into
the space thus purified, would parade, and sing a paean. The sacrifice was,
as it had always been, a dog. The finest and tallest wolfhound had been chosen
from the royal kennels; pure white, handsomely feathered. Its docility, as the
huntsman led it forward to the altar, promised the good omen of a consenting
sacrifice; but when its leash was handed to the sacrificer, it growled and
flew at him. Even for its size, it was immensely strong. It took four men to
overpower it and get the knife to its throat; they finished with more of their
own blood on them than the victim's. To make things worse, in the midst of the
struggle the King had rushed up shouting, and only with trouble had been
coaxed away. Hastily, before there could be brooding on the augury, the four
horsemen, appointed to asperse the plain, galloped to its four corners with
their bloody offerings. The lumps of white and scarlet were flung outward with
averting invocations to Triple Hekate and the infernal gods; and the exorcised
field was ready to receive the army of Alexander. The squadrons and the
phalanxes were ready. The burnished helmets of the horsemen gleamed; their
crests of red or white horsehair, the pennants on their lances, stirred in the
morning breeze. Their short sturdy Greek ponies whinnied at the tall horses of
the Persian troops. Most of the Persian foot had melted away, trudging dusty
caravan trails to their distant villages. The Macedonian foot was present to a
man. They stood in close order, their whetted speartips making a glitter
about them. A square had formed on the wide stubbled plain. Its base was the
wall of Babylon; its left side was the infantry; its right, the cavalry.
Between them, making the fourth side, were the royal elephants. Their
mahouts, who had come with them from India, and knew them as a mother knows
her child, had worked on them all yesterday in the high thatched
elephant-sheds among the palm-trees; crooning and clucking and slapping,
washing them in the canal; painting on their foreheads, in ochre or scarlet or
green, sacred symbols enlaced with elaborate scrollwork; draping their
wrinkled flanks with tasseled nets brilliantly dyed and threaded with gold
bullion; fastening jeweled rosettes through slits in their leather ears;
grooming their tails and toes. It was a year since the mahouts had had a
chance to make their children fine. They had had their schooling on the royal
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maidan at Taxila; their children also. They had talked to them softly,
reminding them of old days beside the Indus, while they reddened their feet
with henna, as the custom had always been for such occasions. Now in the pink
early light they sat proudly on their necks, wearing their ceremonial silks
and turbans with peacock feathers, their beards freshly dyed blue or green or
crimson; each holding the gold-bound ivory goad, studded with gems, which King
Omphis in his magnificence had presented with each elephant to King Iskandar.
They had served two famous kings; the world should see that they and their
children knew how things were done. The generals, who had been pouring their
libations at the bloody altar, went off to join their detachments. As Ptolemy
and Niarchos rode side by side towards the ranks of the Companions, Niarchos
rubbed a splash of blood from his bridle-arm, saying, "The gods below don't
seem disposed to cleanse us." "Are you surprised?" said Ptolemy. His craggy
face was set in creases of disgust. "Well, God willing, I shall be far away
before long." "And I, God willing... Do the dead watch us, as poets
say?" "Homer says the unburied dead do... He never did let go easily." He
added, not altogether to Niarchos, "I shall make him what amends I can." It
was time for the King to take his time-honored place at the right of the
Companions. His horse was ready. He had been well rehearsed. Eager to produce
him and get to business, Perdikkas was grinding his teeth in the effort to
keep his temper. "Sir, the army awaits you. The men are watching. You cannot
let them see you cry. You are the King! Sir, compose yourself. What is a
dog?" "He was Eos!" Philip was scarlet-faced, tears running into his beard.
"He knew me! We used to play tug-of-war. Alexander said he was strong enough
to look after himself. He knew me!" "Yes, yes," said Perdikkas. Ptolemy was
right, Alexander should have had him smothered. Most of the crowd had thought
he was assisting in the sacrifice; but all the omens had been disquieting.
"The gods required him. It is done now. Come." Obedient to authority and to a
voice far more impressive than Meleager's, Philip wiped his eyes and nose with
the corner of his scarlet cloak, and let a groom hoist him up on his
embroidered saddle-cloth. His horse, a seasoned veteran of parades, followed
each maneuver of the one beside it. Philip felt the leading-rein must still be
there. The troops awaited the final ceremony; the sound of the trumpet,
giving the note of the paean for them to sing. Perdikkas, the King beside
him, turned to the officers strung out behind him, leading their squadrons.
"Forward!" he barked. "Slow-march!" The pipers struck up, instead of the
paean, the cavalry walk familiar at parades. The sleek and glittering lines
paced smoothly forward, rank upon rank, stepping delicately as they had done
on triumphant days in the years of miracle, at Memphis, at Tyre, at Taxila, at
Persepolis, and here on this very field. At their head rode Perdikkas, and,
carried by his wise charger, the King. The infantry, taken unawares by this
maneuver, stood in their ranks and muttered. The decay of discipline showed;
spears dipped or leaned askew. They were light parade spears, not the tall
sarissas; suddenly their bearers felt half-armed. The advancing cavalry looked
formal and ceremonious; had there been some muddle in the briefing? Such
doubts, once unthinkable, were common nowadays. Under Meleager their morale
was low, their bonding shaky. Perdikkas gave an order. The left and center
wings reined to a halt; the right, the royal squadron, still advanced. He said
to Philip, "When we stop, sir, make your speech. You remember?" "Yes!" said
Philip eagerly, "I'm to say-" "Hush, sir, not now. When I have said
'Halt!'" Neatly, stylishly, the royal squadron advanced till it was fifty
feet from the phalanx. Perdikkas halted it. Philip lifted his arm. He was
used by now to his comfortable horse. Set firmly on the embroidered
saddle-cloth, in a loud and unexpectedly deep voice, surprising even to
himself, he shouted, "Surrender the mutineers!" There was a moment of
absolute, stunned silence. This was their own, their chosen Macedonian King.
The front ranks, staring across incredulous, saw his face strained in the
simple effort of a child getting his lesson right; and knew at last what they
had done. Voices broke out among the lines, suddenly raised, appealing for
support. They came from Meleager’s ringleaders. Among uncertain undertones,
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their own noise isolated them; it could be heard how few they were. Slightly
at first, looking almost accidental, spaces began to open around them. It was
coming home to their former comrades that they themselves were not precisely
threatened. And who, after all, had been to blame? Who had foisted on them
this hollow King, the tool of anyone who, for the moment, owned him? They
forgot the peasant spear-man who had first called for Philip's son;
remembering only how Meleager had dressed the fool in Alexander's robe, and
tried to profane Alexander's body. What did anyone owe his
creatures? Perdikkas beckoned the herald, who rode up with a paper in his
hand. In his trained, carrying voice, he read out the names of Meleager's
thirty. Meleager's own name was not called. In his station of honor before
the right-wing phalanx, he felt, around him, the last lees of loyalty ebb
away, leaving him high and dry. If he stepped forward, challenged Perdikkas'
perfidy-that was the signal they were waiting for over there. He froze, the
statue of a soldier, sweating cold under the brazen Babylonian sun. Sixty men
dismounted from Perdikkas' squadron. On foot they formed pairs; one holding a
set of fetters, the other a coil of rope. There was a crucial pause. The
thirty turned here and there, protesting. Some spears were waved, some voices
urged resistance. In the confusion, the trumpet spoke again. Quietly, seeming
only to confer with him. Perdikkas had been rehearsing in his next
speech. "Deliver them up!" he shouted. "Or we will ride against you!" He
began, unprompted, to gather up his reins. "Not now!" hissed Perdikkas, to
his relief. He had no wish to go any nearer the spears. They used to point all
one way, when Alexander was there. The spaces widened around the thirty as
the fetter-men approached them. Some gave up and submitted; some struggled,
but their captors had been picked for strength. All were soon standing, with
fettered feet, in the space between the lines. They awaited they knew not
what. There had been something odd in the faces of their captors, who had not
met their eyes. "Bind them," said Perdikkas. Their arms were trussed to
their sides. The cavalry fell back to its first line, leaving once more a
hollow square. The fetter-bearers pushed the bound men over; they fell forward
helplessly, twisting in their bonds, alone under the sky in the field hallowed
to Hekate. From the far side came the shrilling of an eastern pipe and a roll
of drums. The hot sun flashed on the goads of gold and ivory, King Omphis'
gifts. Gently the mahouts pricked the necks of their good children, shouting
the old command. Rising like one, fifty trunks curled backward. The troops
heard with awe the high blare of their war-cry. Slowly, then at a steady
thudding roll, their tread felt through the ground, the huge bedizened beasts
moved forward. The mahouts in their gleaming silks flung off their
well-trained silence. They drummed with their heels, hallooing, slapping the
necks of their mounts with their jeweled hands or the butts of the goads. They
sounded like boys let out of school. The elephants fanned out their great
ears, and, squealing with excitement, began to run. A kind of groan, of
horror and a dreadful fascination, ran through the watching lines. Hearing it,
the men on the ground writhed to their knees, staring about them. At first
they looked at the goads; then one man, still struggling, saw the hennaed feet
as they drummed closer, and understood. He screamed. Others tried to roll away
in the thick grey dust. They had only time to move a yard or two. With drawn
hissing breath, the army of Alexander saw the treading of the human vintage;
the bursting of the rind, the scarlet juices running from the pounded
flattened flesh. The elephants moved with well-trained intelligence, catching
the rolling bodies with their trunks, and steadying them while the feet came
down, trumpeting as the war-smell steamed up from the ground. From his
station besides Perdikkas, Philip uttered little breathless cheers. This was
not like the killing of Eos. He was fond of elephants-Alexander had let him
ride one-but nobody was hurting them. His eye was filled with their splendid
trappings, his ear with their proud brayings. He hardly noticed the bloody
mash below them. In any case, Perdikkas had told him that those were all
wicked men. The mahouts, seeing the work well done, calmed and praised their
children, who willingly came away. They had done such things in battle, and
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several still bore the scars. This had been painless and quick. Following
their leader, an elephant of great age and wisdom, they formed in line, red to
the knees; paraded past Perdikkas and the King, touching brow with trunk in a
grave salute; then went their way to the shady elephant-houses, the reward of
palm-kernels and melons, the cool pleasant bathe which would sluice off the
scent of war. As indrawn breaths escaped, and the silence in the ranks was
breaking, Perdikkas signed to the herald to blow again, and rode forward, a
length ahead of the King. "Macedonians!" he said. "With the death of these
traitors the army is truly cleansed, and fit again to defend the empire. If
there is anyone among you who, deserving these men's fate, has today escaped
it, let him thank his fortune and learn loyalty. Trumpeter! The paean." The
stirring air sang out; the cavalry took it up. After a dragging moment, the
infantry came in. Its ancient fierceness was reassuring as a lullaby. It took
them back to days when they knew who and what they were. It was over.
Meleager left the ground alone. His confederates were dead; out of all his
hangers-on, not one came near him. He might have had the plague. The servant
who had held his horse seemed to look at him not with meant insolence, but
with an inquisitiveness which was worse. Behind, in the vacant square, two
covered wagons had appeared, and men with pitchforks were heaving the corpses
into them. Two cousins and a nephew of his were there; he ought to arrange
their funerals, there was no one else. The thought of searching that trampled
meat for shreds of identity revived his nausea; dismounting he vomited till he
was cold with emptiness. As he rode on, he was aware of two men behind him.
When he stopped they had drawn rein while one adjusted his saddle-cloth. Now
they moved on. He had fought in many battles. Ambition, comradeship, the
bright fierce certainty radiated by Alexander, enemies on whom one could
revenge and redeem one's fear, all these had carried him along and made him
brave. Never before had he faced a lonely end. His mind began to run, like a
hunted fox's, upon likely refuge. Above him, thick and ragged and pitch-black,
sullen with the blood of worked-out slaves, loomed the walls of Babylon and
the crumbling ziggurat of Bel. He rode through the tunneled gateway. The men
were following. He turned off into narrow streets where women crushed
themselves into doorways to give him room; filthy deep courts between eyeless
houses, where huddles of thievish men stared at him dangerously. The pursuit
was no longer in sight. Suddenly he came out into the wide Marduk Way, the
temple just before him. A hallowed place, to Greeks as well as to barbarians.
Everyone knew that Alexander had sacrificed there to Zeus and Herakles.
Sanctuary! He hitched his horse to a fig-tree in the weed-grown outer
precinct. Through rank greenery a trodden path led to the ruined entry; from
the gloom beyond came the universal temple smell of incense, burnt meat and
wood-ash, the Babylonian smell of foreign unguents and foreign flesh. As he
walked towards it in the dazzling heat, someone stood in the sunlight facing
him. It was Alexander. His heart stopped. Next moment he knew what he was
looking at, but still he could not move. The statue was marble, tinted like
life; a dedication eight years old from the first Babylonian triumph. It stood
at ground-level, the plinth as yet unbuilt. Nude but for a red chlamys across
one shoulder, grasping a spear of gilded bronze, Alexander calmly awaited the
new temple he had endowed. His deep-set eyes, with their smoke-grey enamel
irises, gazed out at Meleager, saying "Well?" He stared back, attempting
defiance, at the searching face, the smooth young body. You were lean and
sinewy and hacked about with scars. Your forehead was creased, you were drawn
about the eyes, your hair was fading. What is that idol? An idea... But
memory, once invoked, conjured all too potently the real presence. He had seen
the living anger... He strode on into the temple. At first the gloom almost
blinded him after the harsh sun. Presently, by the light of a smoke-shaft high
above, he saw looming in shadow the colossal image of Bel, Great King of Gods,
enthroned with fists on knees. His towering miter almost touched the roof; he
was flanked by winged lions with the heads of bearded men. His scepter was
tall as a man; his robe, from which the gold leaf was peeling, glimmered
dimly. His face was blackened with age and smoke, but his ivory-inlaid eyes
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glared fiercely yellow. Before him was the fire-altar, covered with dead ash.
No one, it seemed, had told him there was a new King in Babylon. No matter,
an altar was an altar. Here he was safe. Content at first to get back his
breath and enjoy the cool from the thick high walls, soon he started to peer
about for signs of life. The place seemed deserted; yet he felt a sense of
being observed, assessed, considered. In the wall behind Bel, there was a
door set in the dark-glazed tiles. He felt rather than heard stirrings of
life behind it; but he dared not knock. Authority had drained from him. Time
dragged by. He was a temple suppliant, someone should attend to him. He had
not eaten since daybreak; behind the ebony door were men, food, wine. But he
did not go to tell them he was there. He knew they knew it. A rusty sunset
light lowered in the courtyard. The shadows deepened round frowning Bel,
drowning all but his yellow eye-whites. With the dark, he came into
possession. The temple seemed peopled with the ghosts of men like stone,
treading with stony feet the necks of their conquered enemies, offering their
blood to this stone demon. More than for food, Meleager craved for the open
skies of a mountain shrine in Macedon, the color and light of a Greek temple,
the gracious and human countenance of its god. The last light-ray left the
courtyard; there was only a square of dusk, and, within, thick dark. Behind
the door, low voices sounded and went away. His horse stamped and snorted
outside. He could not stay here and rot; under cover of dark he could be gone.
Someone would take him in... but those who were safe were dead. Better to
leave the city now, go west, hire out his sword to some satrap in nearer Asia.
But he must get first to his rooms; he would need gold, he had taken bribes
from scores of petitioners to the King... The dusk in the courtyard
moved. Two shadows showed in the glimmering square. They came on, into the
broken entry. They were not the shadows of Babylonians. He heard the rasp of
drawn swords. "Sanctuary!" he shouted. "Sanctuary!" The door beyond Bel's
image opened a crack, lamplight bright in the darkness. He shouted again. The
crack closed. The shadows approached, vanishing into blackness. He set his
back to the unlit altar and drew his sword. As they came close, it seemed to
him he knew them; but it was only the familiar smell and outline of men from
home. He called their names aloud, recalling old friendships in the army of
Alexander. But the names were wrong; and when they dragged back his head
across the altar, it was remembering Alexander that they cut his
throat. Stripped of its banners and plumes, wreathed with cypress and weeping
willow, the lamenting caravan paced slowly under the Ishtar Gate. Perdikkas
and Leonnatos, warned by the forerunners of its coming, had ridden to meet the
wife of Alexander and tell her that she was widowed. Bare-headed, their hair
still cropped in mourning, they rode beside the wagon train, which had not the
air of a cortege. The princesses sobbed, their women keened and chanted ritual
thernodies. The keepers of the gate heard wondering these new tears, so long
after the days prescribed. In the harem, the rooms of the chief wife waited,
perfumed and immaculate, as ordained by Bagoas two months before. The Warden
had feared that after Alexander's death Roxane would demand them; but to his
deep relief she seemed settled where she was. No doubt her pregnancy had
quietened her. So far, thought the Warden, so good. Perdikkas escorted
Stateira there, concealing his surprise at her arrival; he had supposed her
established in Susa to bear her child in quiet. Alexander, she said, had
summoned her. He must have done so without informing anyone. He had done some
very odd things, after Hephaistion's death. Handing her down the wagon steps
to the Warden, he thought her more beautiful than at the Susa wedding. Her
features had purity of line, the Persian delicacy, fined down by pregnancy and
fatigue, which had put smudges of faint cobalt under her large dark eyes;
their lids with their long silk lashes looked almost transparent. The Persian
kings had always bred for looks. Her hand on the curtain was long-fingered and
smooth as cream. She had been wasted on Alexander; he himself, a good inch
taller, could have stepped out with her very well (His own Susa Bride, a
swarthy Median chosen for exalted birth, had greatly disappointed him.) At
least, Alexander had finally had the sense to get a child on her. It should be
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certain of beauty, if nothing else. Leonnatos, assisting Drypetis, noted that
her face, though still immature, held distinguished promise. He too had a
Persian wife; but this need not keep him from looking higher. He rode off in
thought. An obsequious train of eunuchs and waiting-women led the princesses
through Nebuchadrezzar's devious corridors to the once-familiar rooms. As in
childhood, they felt after the space and light of the Susa palace the frowning
Babylonian strength. But then they came through to the sunny courtyard, the
fishpool where they had floated their boats of split bamboo in lily-leaf
archipelagos, or reached shoulder-deep after the carp. In the room that had
been their mother's they were bathed and scented and fed. Nothing seemed
changed since that summer eight years before, that watershed of time, when
their father had brought them here before marching to meet the King of
Macedon. Even the Warden had remembered them. Their meal done, their
attendants dismissed to be settled in their own quarters, they explored their
mother's clothes-chest. The scarves and veils still released their
memory-stirring scent. Sharing a divan, looking out on the sunlit pool, they
recollected that other life; Stateira, who had been twelve when it ended,
reminding Drypetis, who had been only nine. They talked of their father whom
Grandmother would never name, remembering him in their mountain home before he
had been King, laughing as he tossed them eight feet in the air. They thought
of their mother's perfect face, framed in the scarf with the seed-pearls and
gold beads. Everyone gone-even Alexander-except for Grandmother. They were
growing sleepy when a shadow crossed the doorway. A child came in, with two
silver cups on a silver tray. She was about seven years old, enchantingly
pretty, with a blend of Persian and Indian looks, cream-skinned, dark-eyed.
She dipped a knee without spilling a drop. "Honored ladies," she said
carefully. This, clearly, was all her Persian, learned by heart. They kissed
and thanked her; she dimpled at them, said something in Babylonian, and
trotted away. The silver cups were misted with coolness, pleasant to touch.
Drypetis said, "She had beautiful clothes, and gold earrings. She wasn't a
servant's child." "No," said Stateria, worldly-wise. "And if not, you know,
she must be our half-sister. I remember, Father brought most of the harem
here." "I’d forgotten. Drypetis, a little shocked, looked around her mother's
room. Stateira had gone out into the courtyard, to call back the child again.
But she had gone, and no one was in sight; they had told their women they
wished to rest undisturbed. Even the palms seemed bleached in the dazzling
heat. They lifted the cups, admiring their chased birds and flowers. The drink
tasted of wine and citron, with a delicate bitter-sweet tang. "Delicious,"
said Stateira. "One of the concubines must have sent it to make us welcome;
she was too shy to come herself. Tomorrow we might invite her." The heavy air
was still perfumed with their mother's clothes. It felt homely, secure. Her
grief for her parents, for Alexander, grew dim and drowsy. This would be a
comforting place to bear his child in. Her eyelids closed. The shadow of the
palms had barely slanted when pain awoke her. She thought at first that her
child must be miscarrying, till Drypetis clasped her belly and screamed
aloud. Perdikkas, as Regent of Asia, had moved into the palace. He was seeing
petitioners in the small audience room when the Warden of the harem appeared,
unheralded, his clay-grey face and evident terror having passed him through
the guards. Perdikkas, after one look, had the room cleared and heard
him. When the princesses began to cry for help no one had dared to go near
them; everyone in hearing had guessed the cause. The Warden, desperate to
exculpate himself (he had in fact had no hand in it) had not waited for them
to breathe their last. Perdikkas ran with him to the harem. Stateira lay
sprawled on the divan, Drypetis on the floor where she had rolled in her
death-throes. Stateira drew her last gasp as Perdikkas entered. At first,
transfixed with horror, he was aware of no one else in the room. Then he
perceived that in the ivory chair before the toilet-table a woman was
sitting. He strode across and stared down at her, silent, hardly able to keep
his hands from her throat. She smiled at him. "You did this!" he
said. Roxane raised her brows. "I? It was the new King. Both of them said
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so." She did not add that, before the end, she had taken pleasure in
undeceiving them. "The King?" said Perdikkas furiously. "Who will believe
that, you accursed barbarian bitch?" "All your enemies. They will believe it
because they wish. I shall say that he sent the draught to me too; but when
these fell sick I had not yet drunk it." "You.." For a while he vented his
rage in curses. She listened calmly. When he paused, for sufficient answer she
laid her hand over her womb. He looked away at the dead girl. "The child of
Alexander." "Here," she said, "is the child of Alexander. His only child...
Say nothing, and so will I. She came here without ceremony. Very few will
know." "It was you who sent for her!" "Oh, yes. Alexander did not care for
her. I did as he would have wished." For a moment she felt real fear; his
hand had dropped to his sword-hilt. Still gripping it, he said. "Alexander is
dead. But if ever again you say that of him, when your brat is born I will
kill you with these hands. And if I knew it would take after you, I would kill
you now." Growing cool again, she said, "There is an old well in the back
court. No one draws from it, they say the water is foul. Let us take them
there. No one will come." He followed her. The well-cover had lately been
loosened from its seal of grime. As he lifted it a smell of ancient mold came
out. He had no choice and knew it. Proud as he was, ambitious and fond of
power, he was loyal to Alexander, dead as alive. His son should not, if
Perdikkas could prevent it, enter the world branded as a poisoner's child. He
returned in silence, going first to Drypetis. Her face was soiled with vomit;
he wiped it with a towel before he carried her to the dark hole of the well.
When she had slipped from his hands, he heard her clothes brushing the brick
till, about twenty feet down, she reached the bottom. He could tell, then,
that the well was dry. Stateira's eyes were staring open, her fingers
clutched the stuff of the divan. The eyes would not close; while Roxane waited
impatiently, he went to the chest for something to cover her face, a veil
stitched with scarab-wings. When he began to move her, he felt wet
blood. "What have you done to her?" He drew back in revulsion, wiping his
hand on the coverlet. Roxane shrugged. Stooping, she lifted the robe of
embroidered linen. It could be seen that Alexander's wife in her death-pangs
had brought forth his heir. He stared down at it, the four-month manikin,
already human, the sex defined, even the nails beginning. One of the fists was
clenched as if in anger, the face with its sealed eyes seemed to frown. It was
still tied to its mother; she had died before she could pass the afterbirth.
He drew his dagger and cut it free. "Come hurry," said Roxane. "You can see
that the thing is dead." "Yes," said Perdikkas. It hardly filled his hands,
the son of Alexander, the grandson of Philip and Darius, carrying in its
threadlike veins the blood of Achilles and of Kyros the Great. He went again
to the chest. A scarf trailed out, stitched with seed-pearls and gold beads.
Carefully, like a woman, he wrapped the creature in its royal shroud, and gave
it its own journey to the burial-place, before returning to send its mother
after it. Queen Sisygambis sat playing chess with the Head Chamberlain. He
was an elderly eunuch with a distinguished past going back to King Ochos'
reign. An expert survivor of countless court intrigues, he played a canny
game, and offered more challenge than the waiting-ladies. She had invited him
to relieve her boredom, and mere courtesy demanded that she should attend to
him. She brooded over the ivory armies on the board, Now that the girls were
gone with their young attendants, the harem seemed to have been left behind by
time. Everyone here was old. The Chamberlain saw her lethargy and guessed the
cause. He fell into one or two of her traps and rescued himself, to enliven
the game. In a pause, he said, "Did you find, when the King was here, that he
had remembered your instruction? You said, before he marched east, that he had
promise if he would apply his mind." She said smiling, "I did not test him. I
knew he would have forgotten." For a moment, reflected from the distance, rays
of vitality seemed to surge through the muted room. "I used to tell him it was
called the royal war-game, and for my sake he pretended to care who won. But
when I scolded him and told him he could do better, he said, 'But, Mother,
these are things.' " "He is not a man for sitting still, indeed." "He needed
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more rest. It was not the time to go down to Babylon. Babylon has always been
to winter in." "It seems he means to winter in Arabia. We shall scarcely see
him this year. But when he marches, for sure he will send Their Highnesses
back to you, as soon as the child is born and the lady Stateira can
travel." "Yes," she said a little wistfully. "He will want me to see the
child." She returned to the board, and moved an elephant to threaten his
vizier. A pity, he thought, that the boy had not sent for her; she doted on
him still. But, as she had said, it was no time to go down to Babylon, and she
was turned eighty. They had finished the game, and were drinking citron, when
the Chamberlain was summoned, urgently, by the commander of the garrison. When
he came back, she looked at his face, and grasped the arms of her
chair. "Madam..." "It is the King," she said. "He is dead." He bowed his
head. It was as if her body had known already; at his first word the chill had
reached her heart. He came up quickly, in case she was going to fall; but
after a moment she motioned him to his chair, and waited for him to speak. He
told her as much as he had learned, still watching her; her face was the color
of old parchment. But she was not grieving only; she was thinking. Presently
she turned to a table near her chair, opened an ivory casket, and took out a
letter. "Please read me this. Not the substance only. Word for word." His
sight was not what it had been; but by bringing it close he could see quite
clearly. He translated scrupulously. At I have been sick, and there is
ignorant talk that I am dead, he looked up and met her eyes. "Tell me," she
said, "is that his seal?" He peered at it; at a few inches, the detail was
sharp enough. "It is his likeness, and a good one. But it is not the royal
seal. Has he used this before?" Without speaking, she put the casket into his
hands. He looked at the letters, written in elegant Persian by a scribe; his
eye caught one ending: I commend you, dear Mother, both to your gods and mine,
if indeed they are not the same, as I think they are. There were five or six
letters. All had the royal seal, Olympian Zeus enthroned, his eagle perched on
his hand. She read the answer in his face. "When he did not write to me..."
She took the casket and set it down beside her. Her face was pinched as if
with cold, but without astonishment. All her middle years had been passed in
the dangerous reign of Ochos. Her husband had had royal blood enough to be in
danger whenever the King felt insecure. Trusting almost no one, he had trusted
her and told her everything. Intrigue, revenge and treachery had been daily
weather. In the end, Ochos had killed him. She had believed that he lived
again in her tall son; his flight from Issos had almost killed her with shame.
In the desolate tent, the young conquerer was announced, to visit the family
his enemy had abandoned. For the children's sake, performing dignity like a
well-trained animal its trick, she had knelt to the tall handsome man before
her. He stepped back; everyone's dismay made her aware of a frightful error;
she began to bow to the smaller man she had overlooked. He had taken her hands
and raised her, and for the first time she saw his eyes. "Never mind,
Mother..." She had had Greek enough for that. The Chamberlain, the old
survivor, almost as pale as she, was trying not to look at her. Just so
someone had looked away when her husband had had his last summons to the
court. "They have murdered him." She said it as something evident. "This man
says the marsh-fever. It is common at Babylon in summer." "No, they have
poisoned him. And there is no word of my granddaughters?" He shook his head.
There was a pause while they sat silent, feeling disaster strike on their old
age, a mortal illness, not to be shaken off. She said, "He married Stateira
for policy. It was my doing he got her with child." "They may still be safe.
Perhaps in hiding." She shook her head. Suddenly she sat up in her chair,
like a woman thinking, Why am I idling like this, when I have work to do? "My
friend, a time is over. I shall go to my room now. Farewell. Thank you for
your good service in all these years." She read new fear in his face. She
understood it; they had both known Ochos' reign. "No one will suffer. No one
will be charged with anything. At my age, to die is easy. When you go, will
you send my women?" The women found her composed and busy, laying out her
jewels. She talked to them of their families, advised them, embraced them and
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divided her jewels among them, all but King Poros' rubies, which she kept
on. When she had bidden them all farewell, she lay down on her bed in the
inner room, and closed her eyes. They did not try, after her first refusals,
to get her to eat or drink. It was no kindness to trouble her, still less to
save her alive for the coming vengeance. For the first few days, they left her
alone as she had ordered. On the fourth, seeing her begin to sink, one or
other kept watch beside her; if she knew of them, she did not turn them away.
On the fifth day at nightfall, they became aware that she was dead; her
breathing had been so quiet, no one could be sure when it had
ended. Galloping day and night, by dromedary, by horse, by mountain mule as
the terrain needed, man throwing to man the brief startling news, the King's
Messengers had carried their tidings of death from Babylon to Susa, Susa to
Sardis, Sardis to Smyrna, along the Royal Road which Alexander had extended to
reach the Middle Sea. At Smyrna, all through the sailing season, a
despatch-boat was ready to carry his letters to Macedon. The last courier of
the long relay had arrived at Pella, and given Perdikkas' letter to
Antipatros. The tall old man read in silence. Whenever Philip had gone to war
he had ruled Macedon; since Alexander crossed to Asia he had ruled all Greece.
The honor which had kept him loyal had also stiffened his pride; he looked far
more regal than had Alexander, who had looked only like himself. It had been a
joke of his among close friends that Antipatros was all white outside, with a
purple lining. Now, reading the letter, knowing he would not after all be
replaced by Krateros (Perdikkas had made that clear) his first thought was
that all south Greece would rise as soon as the news had broken. The news
itself, though shocking, was a shock long half-expected. He had known
Alexander from his cradle; it had always been inconceivable that he would make
old bones. Antipatros had almost told him so outright, while he was preparing
to march to Asia without begetting an heir. It had been a false move to hint
at his own daughter; the boy could hardly have done better, but it had made
him feel trapped, or used. "Do you think I've time now to hold wedding feasts
and wait about for children?" he had said. He could have had a half-grown son,
thought Antipatros, with our good blood in him. And now? Two unborn
half-breeds; and meantime, a pride of young lions, slipped off the leash. He
remembered, not without misgivings, his own eldest son. He remembered, too, a
scrap of gossip from the first year of the young King's reign. He had told
someone, "I don't want a son of mine reared here while I'm away." And that
was behind it all. That accursed woman! All through his boyhood she had made
him hate his father, whom he might have admired if let alone; she'd shown him
marriage as the poisoned shirt of Herakles (that, too, a woman's doing!),
then, when he'd reached the age for girls and could have had his pick, she was
outraged that he'd taken refuge with another boy. He could have done far worse
than Hephaistion-his father had, and got his death by it-but she could not
live with what she'd brought about, had made an enemy where she could have had
an ally; and all she'd achieved was to come second instead of first. No doubt
she'd rejoiced to hear of Hephaistion's death. Well, she had another to hear
of now, and let her make the best of it. He checked himself. It was unseemly
to mock a mother's grief for her only son. He would have to send her the news.
He sat down at his writing-table with the wax before him, seeking some decent
and kindly word for his old enemy, some fitting eulogy of the dead. A man, he
reflected, whom he had not seen for more than a decade, whom he thought of
still as a brilliantly precocious boy. What had he looked like, after those
prodigious years? Perhaps one might still see, or guess. It would be something
suitable with which to end his letter, that the body of the King had been
embalmed to the likeness of life, and only awaited a worthy bier to begin its
journey to the royal burial ground at Aigai. TO QUEEN OLYMPIAS, HEALTH AND
PROSPERITY... It was full summer in Epiros. The high valley on its mountain
shoulder was green and gold, watered from the deep winter snows which Homer
had remembered. The calves were fattening, the sheep had yielded their fine
soft wool, the trees bent, heavy with fruit. Though it was against all custom,
the Molossians had prospered under a woman's rule. The widowed Queen
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Kleopatra, daughter of Philip and sister of Alexander, stood with the letter
of Antipatros in her hand, looking out from the upper room of the royal house
to the further mountains. The world had changed, it was too soon to know how.
For Alexander's death she felt awe without grief, as for his life she had felt
awe without love. He had entered the world before her, to steal her mother's
care, her father's notice. Their fights had stopped early, in the nursery;
after that they had not been close enough. Her wedding day, the day of their
father's murder, had made her a pawn of state; him it had made a king. Soon he
had become a phenomenon, growing with distance more dazzling and more
strange. Now for a while, the paper in her hand, she remembered the days
when, boy and girl with only two years between them, their parents' ceaseless
strife had brought them together in defensive collusion; remembered, too, how
if their mother had to be braved in one of her dreadful weeping rages, it had
been he would always go and face the storm. She laid Antipatros' letter down.
The one for Olympias was on the table beside it. He would not face her now;
she herself must do it. She knew where she would find her; in the
ground-floor state guest-room where she had been first received to attend the
funeral of Kleopatra's husband, and where she had since remained. The dead
King had been her brother; more and more she had encroached on the kingdom's
business, while she pursued through a horde of agents the feud with Antipatros
which had made her position in Macedon impossible. Kleopatra set resolutely
the square chin she had inherited from Philip, and, taking the letter, went
down to her mother's room. The door was ajar. Olympias was dictating to her
secretary. Kleopatra, pausing, could hear that she was drawing up a long
indictment against Antipatros, going back ten years, a summary of old scores.
"Question him on this, when he appears before you, and do not be deceived if
he claims that..." She paced about impatiently while the scribe caught
up. Kleopatra had meant to behave, on so traditional an occasion, as a
daughter should; to show the warning of a grave sad face, to utter the usual
preparations. Just then her eleven-year-old son came in from a game of ball
with his companion pages; a big-boned auburn boy with his father's face.
Seeing her hesitating at the door, he looked at her with an air of anxious
complicity, as if sharing her caution before the seat of power. She dismissed
him gently, wanting to hug him to her and cry, "You are the King!" Through the
door she saw the secretary busily scratching the wax. He was a man she hated,
a creature of her mother's from long ago in Macedon. There was no knowing what
he had known. Olympias was a few years over fifty. Straight as a spear, and
slender still, she had begun to use cosmetics as a woman does who means only
to be seen, not touched. Her greying hair had been washed with camomile and
henna; her lashes and brows were lined in with antimony. Her face was
whitened, her lips, not her cheeks, were faintly reddened. She had painted her
own image of herself, not enticing Aphrodite but commanding Hera. When,
catching sight of her daughter in the doorway, she swept round to rebuke the
interruption, she was majestic, even formidable. Suddenly, Kleopatra was
swept by a red surge of anger. Stepping forward into the room, her face like
stone, making no gesture to dismiss the scribe, she said harshly, "You need
not write to him. He is dead." The perfect silence seemed deepened by each
slight intrusive sound; the click of the man's dropped stylus, a dove in a
nearby tree, the voices of children playing a lone wav off. The white cream on
Olympias' face stood out like chalk. She looked straight before her.
Kleopatra, nerved for she could not tell what elemental furies, waited till
she could no longer bear it. Quiet with remorse, she said, "It was not in war.
He died of fever." Olympias motioned to the scribe. He made off, leaving his
papers in disorder. She turned towards Kleopatra. "Is that the letter? Give
it to me." Kleopatra put it into her hand. She held it, unopened, waiting,
dismissive. Kleopatra shut the thick door behind her. No sound came from the
room. His death was something between the two of them, as his life had been.
She herself was excluded. That, too, was an old story. Olympias grasped the
stone mullion of the window, its carvings biting, unfelt, into her palms. A
passing servant saw the staring face and thought, for a moment, that a tragic
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theater mask had been propped there. He hurried on lest her sightless gaze
should light on him. She stared at the eastern sky. It had been foretold her
before his birth. Perhaps as she slept he had stirred within her-he had been
restless, impatient for life-and it had made her dream. Billowing wings of
fire had sprung from her body, beating and spreading till they were great
enough to waft her into the sky. Still the fire had streamed from her, an
ecstasy, flowing over mountains and seas till it filled the earth. Like a god
she had surveyed it, floating on the flames. Then, in a moment, they were
gone. From some desolate crag where they had abandoned her, she had seen the
land black and smoking, sparked with hot embers like a burned-out hillside.
She had started wide awake, and put out her hand for her husband. But she was
eight months gone, he had long since found other bedfellows. She had lain till
morning, remembering the dream. When, later, the fire was running over the
wondering world, she had said to herself that all life must die, the time was
far off and she would not live to see it. Now all was fulfilled; she could
only clench her hands upon the stone and affirm that it must not be. It had
never been in her to accept necessity. Down on the coast, where the waters of
Acheron and Kokytos met, was the Nekromanteion, the Oracle of the Dead. She
had gone there long ago, when for her sake Alexander had defied his father,
and they had both come here in exile for a time. She remembered the dark and
winding labyrinth, the sacred drink, the blood-libation which gave the shades
strength to speak. Her father's spirit had stirred in the gloom and spoken
faintly, saying her troubles would soon end and fortune shine on her. It
would be a long day's ride, she must set out at dawn. She would make the
offering and take the draught and go into the dark, and her son would come to
her. Even from Babylon, from the world's end, he could come... Her mind
paused. What if the first-comers were those who had died at home? Philip, with
Pausanias' dagger in his ribs? His new young wife, to whom she had offered
poison or the rope? Even for a spirit, even for Alexander, it was two thousand
miles from Babylon. No; she would wait till his body came; that, surely,
would bring his spirit nearer. When she had seen his body, his spirit would
seem less strange. For she knew that she feared its strangeness. When he left,
he had been still a boy to her; she would receive the body of a man nearing
middle age. Would his shade obey her? He had loved her, but seldom
obeyed. The man, the ghost, slipped from her grasp. She stood there empty.
Then, uninvoked, vivid to sight and touch, came the child. The scent of his
hair, nuzzled into her neck; the light scratches on his fine skin, his grazed
dirty knees; his laughter, his anger, his wide listening eyes. Her dry eyes
filled; tears streaked her cheeks with eye-paint; she bit on her arm to muffle
her crying. By the evening fire, she had told him the old family tales of
Achilles handed down by word of mouth, always reminding him that it was from
her side that the hero's blood came down to him. When schooldays began he had
come eagerly to the Iliad, coloring it with the Achilles of the tales.
Reaching the Odyssey, he came upon Odysseus' visit to the land of shades. ("It
was in my country, in Epiros, that he spoke with them.") Slowly and solemnly,
looking out past her at a reddening sunset sky, he had spoken the
words. "Achilleus, no man before has been more blessed than you, nor ever
will be. Before, when you were alive, we Argives honored you as we did the
gods, and now in this place you have great authority over the dead. Do not
grieve, even in death, Achilleus." So I spoke, and he in turn said to me in
answer, "O shining Odysseus, never try to console me for dying. I would rather
follow the plow as thrall to another man, one with no land allotted him and
not much to live on, than be a king over all the perished dead." Because he
did not cry when he was hurt, he was never ashamed of tears. She saw his eyes
glitter, fixed on the glowing clouds, and knew that his grief was innocent;
only for Achilles, parted from hope and expectation, the mere shadow of his
glorious past, ruling over shadows of past men. He had not yet believed in his
own mortality. He said, as if it were her he was reassuring, "But Odysseus
did console him for dying, after all, it says so." So I spoke, and the soul
of the swift-footed scion of Aiakos stalked away in long strides across the
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meadow of asphodel, happy for what I had said of his son, and how he was
famous. "Yes," she had said. "And after the war his son came to Epiros, and
we are both descended from him." He had considered it. Then: "Would Achilles
be happy if I were famous too?" She had bent and ruffled his hair. "Of course
he would. He would stride through the asphodel and sing." She let go of the
window-column. She felt faint and ill; going to her inner room she lay down
and wept fiercely. It left her almost too weak to stand, and at last she
slept. At dawn, she woke to the recollection of great grief, but her strength
was almost recovered. She bathed and dressed and painted her face, and went to
her writing-table. TO PERDIKKAS, REGENT OF THE ASIAN KINGDOMS,
PROSPERITY... On the roof of their house, a few miles inland from Pella,
Kynna and Eurydike were practicing with the javelin. Kynna, like Kleopatra,
was one of Philip's daugh-ters, but by a minor marriage. Her mother had been
an Illyrian princess, and a noted warrior, as the customs of her race allowed.
After a border war against her for-midable old father Bardelys, Philip had
sealed the peace treaty with a wedding, as he had done several times before.
The lady Audata would not have been his choice for her own sake; she was
comely, but he had had trouble remembering which sex he was in bed with. He
had paid her attention enough to get one daughter on her, given them a house,
maintained them, but seldom called on them till Kynna was of marriage-able
age. Then he had given her in wedlock to his nephew Amyntas, his elder
brother's child, the same whom the Macedonians had passed over in his infancy,
to make Philip King. Amyntas, obedient to the people's will expressed in the
Assembly, had lived peaceably through Philip's reign. Only when conspirators
were planning the King's murder had he fallen to temptation, and agreed when
the deed was done to accept the throne. For this, when it came to light,
Alexander had put him on trial for treason, and the Assembly had condemned
him. Kynna, his wife, had withdrawn from the capital to his country estate.
She had lived there ever since, rearing her daughter in the martial skills her
Illyrian mother had taught her. It was her natural bent; it was an occupation;
and she felt, instinctively, that one day it would be of use. She had never
forgiven Amyntas' death. Her daughter Eurydike, only child of an only child,
had known as long as she could remember that she should have been a boy. The
core of the house was a rugged old fort going back to the civil wars; later
the thatched house had been built beside it. It was on the flat roof of the
fort that the woman and the girl were standing, throwing at a straw man
propped on a pole. A stranger could have taken them for sisters; Kynna was
only just thirty, Eurydike was fifteen. They both took after the Illyrian
side, tall, fresh-faced, athletic. In the short men's tunics they wore for
exercise, their brown hair plaited back out of their way, they looked like
girls of Sparta, a land of which they knew almost nothing. Eurydike's javelin
had left a splinter in her palm. She pulled it out, and called in
slave-Thracian to the tattooed boy who was bringing back the spears from the
target, and who should have seen they were rubbed smooth. As he worked they
sat to rest on a block of stone set for an archer, stretched and took deep
breaths of the mountain air. "I hate the plains," said Eurydike. "I shall
mind that more than anything." Her mother did not hear; she had been looking
out at the hill-road that led between the village huts to their gate. "A
courier is coming. Come down and change your clothes." They climbed down the
wooden steps to the floor below, and put on their second-best dresses". A
courier was a rare event, and such people reported what they saw. His gravity
and sense of drama almost made Kynna ask his errand before she broke the seal.
But it would be undignified; she sent him off to be fed before she read
Antipatros' letter. "Who is dead?" asked Eurydike. "It is Arridaios?" Her
voice was eager. Her mother looked up. "No. It is Alexander." “Alexander!”
She spoke with disappointment more than grief. Then her face lightened. "If
the King is dead, I needn't marry Arridaios." "Be quiet!" said her mother.
"Let me read." Her face had changed; it held defiance, resolution, triumph.
The girl said anxiously, "I needn't marry him, Mother? Need I? Need I?" Kynna
turned to her with glowing eyes. "Yes! Now indeed you must. The Macedonians
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have made him King." "King? How can they? Is he better, have his wits come
back?" "He is Alexander's brother, that is all. He is to keep the throne warm
for Alexander's son by the barbarian. If she has a son." "And Antipatros says
I am to marry him?" "No, he does not. He says that Alexander had changed his
mind. He may be lying, or not. It's no matter which." Eurydike's thick brows
drew together. "But if it's true, it might mean Arridaios is worse." "No,
Alexander would have sent word; the man is lying, I know it. We must wait to
hear from Perdikkas in Babylon." "Oh, Mother, let us not go. I don't want to
marry the fool." "Don't call him the fool, he is King Philip, they have named
him after your grandfather... Don't you see? The gods have sent you this. They
mean you to right the wrong that was done your father." Eurydike looked away.
She had been barely two when Amyntas was executed, and did not remember him.
He had been a burden on her all her life. "Eurydike!" The voice of authority
brought her to attention. Kynna had set herself to be father as well as
mother, and done it well. "Listen to me. You were meant for great things, not
to grow old in a village like a peasant. When Alexander offered you his
brother's hand to make peace between our houses, I knew that it was destiny.
You are a true-born Macedonian and royal on both sides. Your father should
have been King. If you were a man, they would have chosen you in
Assembly." The girl listened in a growing quiet. Her face lost its
sullenness; aspiration began to kindle in her eyes. "If I die for it," said
Kynna, "you shall be reigning Queen." Peukestes, Satrap of Persia, had
withdrawn from his audience chamber to his private room. It was furnished in
the manner of province, except for the Macedonian panoply on the armor-stand.
He had changed from his formal robe to loose trousers and embroidered
slippers. A tall fair man, with features of lean refinement, he had curled his
hair Persian-style; but at Alexander's death, conforming to Persian custom,
had shaved it to the scalp, instead of cropping it as he would in Macedon.
When exposed it still felt chilly; to warm his head he had put on his cap of
office, the helmet-shaped kyrbasia. This gave him an unintended look of state;
the man he had summoned approached him with downcast eyes, and prepared to go
down in the prostration. Peukestes looked at him startled, at first not
knowing him; then he put out his hand. "No, Bagoas. Get up, be
seated." Bagoas rose and obeyed, acknowledging, with some gesture of the
face, Peukestes' smile. His dark-circled eyes looked enormous; there was just
enough flesh on him to display the elegance of his skull. His scalp was naked
of hair; when it began to grow he must have shaved again. He looked like an
ivory mask. Yes, something must be done for him, Peukestes thought. "You
know," he said, "that Alexander died leaving no will?" The young eunuch made
an assenting gesture. After a pause he said, "Yes. He would not
surrender." "True. And when he understood that the common fate of man had
overtaken him, his voice had gone. Or he would not have forgotten his faithful
servants... You know, I kept vigil for him at the shrine of Sarapis. It was a
long night, and a man had time to think." "Yes," said Bagoas. "That was a
long night." "He told me once that your father had an estate near Susa, but
was unjustly dispossessed and killed while you were young." No need to add
that the boy had been castrated and enslaved, and sold to pleasure Darius. "If
Alexander could have spoken, I think he would have bequeathed you your
father's land. So I shall buy out the man who has it, and give it you." "The
bounty of my lord is like rain on a dry river-bed." A beautiful movement of
the hand went with it, like an absent-minded reflex; he had been a courtier
since he was thirteen. "But my parents are both dead; so are my sisters, at
least if they were fortunate. I had no brother; and I shall have no son. Our
house was burned to the ground; and for whom should I rebuild it?" He has
made a grave-offering of his beauty, Peu-kestes thought; now he is waiting to
die. "And yet, it might please your father's shade to see his son restore his
name with honor in the ancestral place." Bagoas' hollow eyes seemed to
consider it. like something infinitely distant. "If my lord, in his
magnanimity, would give me a little time... ?" He wants only to be rid of me,
Peukestes thought. Well, I can do no more. That evening Ptolemy, on the eve
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of departing to the satrapy of Egypt, was his guest at supper. Since it seemed
they might never meet again, their talk grew reminiscent. Presently it turned
upon Bagoas. "He could make Alexander laugh," Ptolemy said. "I have heard
them often." "You would not think so now." Peukestes related the morning's
interview. The talk passed to other things; but Ptolemy, who had a mind that
wasted nothing, pleaded tomorrow's press of business and left the party
early. Bagoas' house stood in the paradise a little way from the palace. It
was small but elegant; often Alexander had spent an evening there. Ptolemy
remembered the torches in their sconces by the door, the sound of harps and
flutes and laughter, and, sometimes, the eunuch's sweet alto singing. At
first sight all was dark. Nearer, he saw a dim single lamp yellowing a window.
A small dog barked; after a while, a sleepy servant peered through the grille,
and said the master had retired. These courtesies over, Ptolemy went round
toward the window. "Bagoas," he said softly, "it's Ptolemy. I am going away
forever. Won't you bid me goodbye?" There was only a short silence. The light
voice said, "Let the lord Ptolemy in. Light the lamps. Bring wine." Ptolemy
entered, politely disclaiming ceremony, Bagoas politely insisting. A taper was
brought, light shone on his ivory head. He was dressed, in the formal clothes
he must have worn to call on Peukestes. They looked now as if he had slept in
them; he was buttoning the jacket up. On the table was a tablet covered with
score-marks; what was erased looked like an attempt to draw a face. He pushed
them aside to make room for the wine-tray, and thanked Ptolemy for the honor
of his visit with impeccable civility; peering at him blankly from deep hollow
eyes, as the slave kindled the lamps, like an owl revealed in daylight. He
looked a little mad. Ptolemy thought, Am I too late already? He said, "You
have truly mourned for him. I too. He was a good brother." Bagoas' face
remained inexpressive; but tears ran from his eyes in silence, like blood from
an open wound. He brushed them absently away, as one might a lock of hair
which has a habit of straying, and turned to pour the wine. "We owed him
tears," Ptolemy said. "He would have wept for us." He paused. "But, if the
dead care for what concerned them in life, he may be needing more from his
friends than that." The ivory mask under the lamp turned to a face; the eyes,
in which desperation was tempered by older habits of gentle irony, riveted
themselves on Ptolemy's. "Yes?" he said. "We both know what he valued most.
While he lived, honor and love; and, after, undying fame." "Yes," Bagoas.
"So... ?" With his new attention had come a profound and weary skepticism.
Why not, thought Ptolemy; three years among the labyrinthine intrigues of
Darius' court before he was sixteen-and, lately, why not indeed? "What have
you seen since he died? How long have you been shut up here?" Raising his
large dark disillusioned eyes, Bagoas said with a vicious quiet, "Since the
day of the elephants." For a moment Ptolemy was silenced; the wraith had
hardened, dauntingly. Presently he said, "Yes, that would have sickened him.
Niarchos said so, and so did I. But we were overborne." Bagoas said,
answering the unspoken words, "The ring would have gone to Krateros, if he had
been there." There was a pause. Ptolemy considered his next move; Bagoas
looked like a man just waked from sleep, considering his thoughts. Suddenly he
looked up sharply. "Has anyone gone to Susa?" "Bad news travels
fast." "News?" said Bagoas with unconcealed impatience. "It is protection
they will need." Suddenly, Ptolemy remembered something said by his Persian
wife, Artakama, a lady of royal blood bestowed by Alexander. He was leaving
her with her family till, as he had said, the affairs of Egypt were settled.
He had been uneasy with a harem, its claustral and stifling femininity, after
the free-and-easy Greek hetairas. He meant his heir to be a pure-bred
Macedonian, and had, in fact, offered for one of Antipatros' many daughters.
But there had been some piece of gossip... Bagoas' eyes were boring into
his. "I have heard a rumor-worth nothing I daresay- that a Persian lady came
from Susa to the harem here, and was taken sick and died. But-" Bagoas'
breath hissed through his teeth. "If Stateira has come to Babylon," he said in
a soft deadly voice, "of course she has been taken sick and died. When first
the Bactrian knew of me, I would have died of the same sickness, if I had not
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given some sweetmeats to a dog." Ptolemy felt a sickening conviction. He had
been with Alexander on that last visit to Susa, been brought once to dine with
Sisygambis and the family. Pity and disgust contended with the thought that if
this had happened, and Perdikkas had condoned it, his own design was
justified. "Alexander's fame," he said, "has not been very well served since
the gods received him. Men who cannot match his greatness of soul should try
at least to honor it." Bagoas brooded on him, thoughtful, in a grey calm; as
if he stood on the threshold of a door he had been going out of, and could not
be sure it was worth while to turn back. "Why have you come?" he said. The
dead are not respectful, Ptolemy reflected. Good, it saves time. "I will tell
you why. I am concerned for the fate of Alexander's body." Bagoas hardly
stirred, but his whole frame seemed to change, losing its lethargy, becoming
wiry and tense. "They took their oath!" he said. "They took it on the
Styx." "Oath... ? Oh, all that is over. I'm not talking of Babylon." He
looked up. His hearer had come in from the threshold; the door of life had
swung to behind him. He listened, rigidly. "They are making him a golden
bier; nothing less is due to him. It will take the craftsmen a year to finish.
Then, Perdikkas will have it sent to Macedon." "To Macedon!” The look of
stunned shock quite startled Ptolemy, his homeland customs taken for granted.
Well, so much the better. "That is the custom. Did he not tell you how he
buried his father?" "Yes. But it was here they..." "Meleager? A rogue and a
halfwit, and the rogue is dead. But in Macedon, that is different. The Regent
is nearly eighty; he may be gone before the bier arrives. And his heir is
Kassandros, whom you know of." Bagoas' slender hand closed in a sinewy fist.
"Why did Alexander let him live? If he had only given me leave. No one would
have been the wiser." I don't doubt it, thought Ptolemy, glancing at his
face. "Well, in Macedon the King is entombed by his rightful heir; it confirms
his succession. So, Kassandros will be waiting. So will Perdikkas; he will
claim it in the name of Roxane's son-and, if there is no son, maybe for
himself. There is also Olympias, who is no mean fighter either. It will be a
bitter war. Sooner or later, whoever holds the coffin and the bier will need
the gold." Ptolemy looked for a moment, and looked away. He had came
remembering the elegant, epicene favorite; devoted certainly, he had not
doubted that, but still, a frivolity, the plaything of two kings' leisure. He
had not forseen this profound and private grief in its priestlike austerity.
What memories moved behind those guarded eyes? "This, then," he said
inexpressively, "is why you came?" "Yes. I can prevent it, if I have help
that I can trust." Bagoas said, half to himself, "I never thought they would
be taking him away." His face changed and grew wary. "What do you mean to
do?" "If I have the word of when the bier sets out, I will march from Egypt
to meet it. Then, if I can treat with the escort-and I think I can-I will take
him to his own city, and entomb him in Alexandria." Ptolemy waited. He saw
himself being weighed. At least there were no old scores between them. Less
than delighted when Alexander took a Persian to his heart and bed, he had been
distant to the boy, but never insolent. Later, when it was clear the youth was
neither venal nor ambitious, simply a tactful and well-mannered concubine,
their chance meetings had been unstrained and easy. However, one did not sleep
with two kings and remain naive. One could see the assessment he was making
now. "You are thinking of what I stand to gain; and why not? A great deal, of
course. It may even make me a king. But-and this I swear before the gods-never
a king of Macedon and Asia. No man alive can wear the mantle of Alexander, and
those who grasp at it will destroy themselves. Egypt I can hold, and rule it
as he wanted. You were not there, it was before your time; but he was proud of
Alexandria." "Yes," said Bagoas. "I know." "I was with him," said Ptolemy,
"when he went to Ammon's oracle at Siwah in the desert, to learn his
destiny." He began to tell of it. Almost at once the worldly alertness in his
hearer's face had faded; he saw the single-minded absorption of a listening
child. How often, he thought, must that look have drawn the tale from
Alexander! The boy's memory must read like a written scroll. But to hear it
from someone else would give some new and precious detail, some new
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sight-line. He took trouble, therefore, describing the desert march, the
rescuing rain, the guiding ravens, the serpents pointing as they lay, the
sands' mysterious voices; the great oasis with its pools and palm-glades and
wondering white-robed people; the rocky acropolis where the temple was, with
its famous courtyard where the sign of the god was given. "There is a spring
in a basin of red rock; we had to wash our gold and silver offerings in it, to
cleanse them for the god, and ourselves as well. It was icy cold in the hot
dry air. Alexander of course they did not purify. He was Pharaoh. He carried
his own divinity. They led him into the sanctuary. Outside, the light was all
shimmering white, and everything seemed to ripple in it. The entrance looked
black as night, you'd have thought it would have blinded him. But he went in
as though his eyes were on distant mountains." Bagoas nodded, as if to say,
"Of course; go on." "Presently we heard singing, and harps and cymbals and
sistra, and the oracle came out. There is not room for it inside the
sanctuary. He stood there to watch it, somewhere in the dark. "The priests
came out, forty pairs of them, twenty before and twenty behind the god. They
carried the oracle like a litter, with long shoulder-poles. The oracle is a
boat. I don't know why the god should speak through a boat on land. Ammon has
a very old shrine at Thebes. Alexander used to say it must have come first
from the river." "Tell me about the boat." He spoke like a child who prompts
an old bedtime story. "It was long and light, like the bird-hunters' punts on
the Nile. But sheathed all over with gold, and hung with gold and silver
votives, all kinds of little precious things swinging and glittering and
tinkling. In the middle was the Presence of the god. Just a simple
sphere. "The priest came out into the court with Alexander's question. He had
written it on a strip of gold- and folded the gold together. He laid it on the
pavement before the god, and prayed in his own tongue. Then the boat began to
live. It stayed where it was, but you could see it quicken." "You saw it,"
said Bagoas suddenly. "Alexander said he was too far." "Yes, I saw. The
carriers stood with empty faces, waiting; but they were like flotsam on a
still river-pool, before the flow of the river lifts it. It does not stir yet;
but you know the river is under all. "The question lay shining in the sun.
The cymbals sounded a slow beat and the flutes played louder. Then the
carriers began to sway a little where they stood, just as flotsam sways. You
know how the god answers: back for no, forward for yes. They moved forward
like all one thing a skein of water-weed, a drift of leaves, till before the
question they stopped, and the prow dipped. Then the trumpets sounded, and we
waved our hands and cheered. "We waited, then, for Alexander to come out from
the sanctuary. It was hot; or we thought so, not having yet been in Gedrosia."
A shadowy smile replied to him. They were both survivors of that dreadful
march. "At last he came out with the high priest. I think more had happened
than he had come to ask. He came out with the awe still in him. Then, I
remember, he blinked in the sudden brightness, and shaded his eyes with his
hand. He saw us all, and looked across and smiled." He had looked across at
Hephaistion and smiled; but there was no need to say so. "Egypt loved him.
They welcomed him with hymns as their savior from the Persians. He honored all
their temples that Ochos had profaned. I wish you had seen him laying out
Alexandria. I don't know how far it has gone up now, I don't trust the
governor; but I know what he wanted, and when I am there I shall see it done.
There is only one thing he left no mark for: the tomb where we shall honor
him. But I know the place, by the sea. I remember him standing
there." Bagoas' eyes had been fixed upon a light-point on his silver cup. He
raised them. "What is it you want done?" Silently, Ptolemy caught his breath.
He had been in time. "Stay here in Babylon. You refused Peukestes' offer; no
one else will make you his concern. Bear with it if they take your house for
some creature of Perdikkas'. Stay till the bier is ready and you know when it
will set out. Then come to me. You shall have a house in Alexandria near where
he lies. You know that in Macedon that could not be." In Macedon, he thought,
the children would stone you in the street. But you have guessed that; there
is no need to be cruel. "Will you take my hand on it?" he said. He held out
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his big-boned right hand, calloused from the spear-shaft and the sword, its
seams picked out by the lamp as he held it open. Pale, slender and icy cold,
Bagoas' hand took it in a precise and steady grip. Ptolemy remembered that he
had been a dancer. In a last fierce spasm, Roxane felt her infant's head
thrust out of her. More gently, with swift-relief, turned by a skillful
midwife, the moist body slid after. She stretched her legs out, dripping with
sweat and panting; then heard the child's thin angry cry. Shrill with
exhaustion, she cried out, "A boy, is it a boy?" Acclamation and praise and
good-luck invocations rose in chorus. She gave a great groan of triumph. The
midwife lifted the child to view, still on its blue-white cord. From the
half-screened corner where he had vigilantly watched the birth, Perdikkas came
forward, confirmed the sex, uttered a conventional phrase of good omen, and
left the room. The cord was tied, the afterbirth delivered; mother and child
were washed with warm rose-water, dried, anointed. Alexander the Fourth, joint
King of Macedon and Asia, was laid in his mother's arms. He nuzzled for
warmth, but she held him at arm's length to look at him. He was
dark-haired. The midwife, touching the fine fluff, said it was birth-hair
that would fall away. He was still red and crumpled, his face closed up in the
indignation of the newly born; but she could see through the flush an olive,
not a rosy coloring. He would be dark, a Bactrian. And why not? Alone in a
harsh alien element, missing the womb's blind comfort, he began to cry. She
lowered him to her body, to take the weight from her arms. He hushed; the
slave-girl with the feather fan had come back to the bedside; after the
bustle, the women with silence and soft feet were setting to rights the rooms
of the Royal Wife. Beyond the door, the courtyard with its fishpool lay under
the mild winter sun. Reflected light fell on the dressing-table, and on the
gold and silver toilet-set that had been Queen Stateira's; her jewel-box stood
beside it. All was triumph and tranquillity. The nurse came fussing up with
the antique royal cradle, plated with gold and time-yellowed ivory. Roxane
drew the coverlet over the sleeping child. Under her fingers, almost disguised
by the elaborate embroidery, was a smear of blood. Her stomach heaved. When
she had moved into this room it had all been refurbished and redraped. But the
bed was a fine one and they had not changed it. She had stood by while
Stateira writhed and tried to clutch at her and moaned "Help me! Help me!" and
fumbled blindly with her clothes. Roxane had flung them back to see her beaten
enemy, her son's rival, come naked into the world he would never rule. Could
it be true that the thing had opened its mouth and cried? Disturbed by her
tightened fingers, the infant wailed. "Shall I take him, madam?" said the
nurse timidly by her side. "Would madam like to sleep?" "Later." She softened
her grip; the child quietened and curled itself against her. He was a king and
she was a king's mother; no one could take it from her. "Where is Amestrin?
Amestrin, who put this filthy cover on my bed? It stinks, it is disgusting,
give me something clean. If I see it again, your back will know it" After
panic scurryings, another cover was found; the state one, a year's work in
Artaxerxes' day, was whisked out of sight. The baby slept. Roxane, her body
loosening into comfort from its labor, sank into drowsiness. In a dream she
saw a half-made child with the face of Alexander, lying in blood, its grey
eyes staring with anger. Fear woke her. But all was well; he was dead and
could do nothing, it was her son who would rule the world. She slept
again. 322 B.C. the army of king philip was encamped in the Pisidian hills.
Perdikkas, blood-spattered and smeared with ash, was picking his way down a
stony path strewn with dead men and abandoned weapons. Above him, circling a
cloud of stinking smoke, vultures and kites made exploring swoops, their
numbers thickening as news of the banquet spread. The Macedonians, prompter
than the birds, scavenged the charred ruins of Isaura. Spared by Alexander
because they had surrendered without a fight, the Isaurians had been left with
orders to pull down the robber fort from which they had plagued their
neighbors, and to live peaceably. In his long absence they had murdered his
satrap and fallen back into old ways. This time, from bad consciences or from
having less trust in Perdikkas than in Alexander, they had defended their
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craggy nest to the bitter end. When their outworks fell, they had locked into
their houses their goods, their wives and children, set timber and thatch
alight, and to the hellish music of the fires had hurled themselves on the
Macedonian spears. Some fifteen years of war had made Perdikkas almost
nightmare-proof; in a few days he would be dining out on the story; but with
the stench of burnt flesh still hanging in the air he had had enough for
today, and had welcomed the news that a courier awaited him in his camp below.
His brother Alketas, a hard man and his second in command, would oversee the
raking of the cinders for half-melted silver and gold. His helmet was
scorching hot; he took it off and wiped his sweating forehead. From the royal
tent of dyed and emblazoned leather, Philip came out and ran towards him. "Did
we win?" he asked. He was armed in cuirass and greaves, a thing he had
insisted on. In Alexander's day, when he had followed the army much as now, he
had worn civil dress; but now that he was King, he knew what was due to him.
He had in fact been eager to fight; but, used to obedience, had not insisted,
since Alexander had never let him do it. "You're all bleeding," he said. "You
ought to see a doctor." "It's a bath I need." When alone with his sovereign,
Perdikkas dispensed with formality. He told him as much as it was good for him
to know, went to his own tent, cleaned himself, put on a robe, and ordered the
courier brought. This person was a surprise. The letter he brought was
reticent and formal; he himself had much to say. A hardy grizzled man in his
early sixties, with a missing thumb lost at Gaugamela, he was a minor
Macedonian nobleman, and not so much a messenger as an envoy. With elation,
tinged by well-founded misgiving, Perdikkas reread the letter to gain time for
thought. TO PERDIKKAS, REGENT OF THE ASIAN KINGDOMS, FROM KLEOPATRA, DAUGHTER
OF PHILIP AND SISTER OF ALEXANDER, GREETING. After the usual well-wishings,
the letter glanced at their cousinship, recalled his distinguished services to
Alexander, and proposed a conference, to discuss matters concerning the
well-being of all the Macedonians. These matters were not specified. The last
sentence disclosed that the Queen had set out already from Dodona. The envoy,
affecting negligence, was toying with his wine-cup. Perdikkas coughed. "Am I
to hope that if I should beg the honor of the lady Kleopatra's hand, my suit
would be graciously received?" The envoy gave a reassuring smile. "So far,
the Kings have been elected only by the Macedonians in Asia. Those in the
homeland might like their own chance to choose." Perkiddas had had a grueling
and hideous, even though successful, day. He had come back for a bath, a rest
and a drink, not to be offered at short notice the throne of Macedon.
Presently he said, with a certain dryness, "Such happiness was beyond my
hopes. I feared she might still be mourning Leonnatos." The veteran, whom
Perdikkas' steward had refreshed while he was waiting, settled into his chair.
The wine was strong, with no more than a splash of water, Perdikkas having
felt he needed it. The diplomat gave way visibly to the soldier. "I can tell
you, sir, why he was her first choice, for what it's worth. She remembered him
from her childhood at home. He climbed a tree once, to get down her cat for
her, when he was a boy. You know what women are." "And in the end I believe
they did not meet?" "No. When he crossed from Asia to fight the southern
Greeks, he'd only time to raise his troops in Macedon and ride on down. Bad
luck that he fell before our victory." "A pity that his troops were so cut
up. I hear he fought while he could stand. A brave man; but hardly the stuff
of kings?" "She was well out of it," said the soldier bluntly. "All her
friends tell her so. It was a fancy; she soon got over grieving. Lucky for her
she has the chance to think better now." He tipped back his cup; Perdikkas
refilled it. "If she had seen you, sir, at Gaugamela..." This word of power
diverted them into reminiscence. When they came back to business, Perdikkas
said, "I suppose the truth is, she wants to get away from Olympias." The
envoy, flushed and relaxed, planked down his cup and leaned his arm on the
table. "Sir. Let me tell you, between ourselves, that woman is a Gorgon. She's
eaten that poor girl piece by piece, till she's hardly mistress of her house,
let alone the kingdom. Not that she lacks spirit; but left as she is, without
a man to stand by her, there's no fighting Olympias. She has the Molossians
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treating her like a queen. She is a queen. She looks like a queen; she has the
will of a king. And she's Alexander's mother." "Ah. Yes... So Kleopatra has a
mind to leave her Dodona, and make a bid for Macedon?" "She's Philip's
daughter." Perdikkas, who had been thinking quickly, said, "She has a son by
the late King." He had no wish to be caretaker for a stepson. "He'll inherit
at home, his granddam will see to that. Now Macedon… No woman has ever reigned
in Macedon. But Philip's daughter, married to a royal kinsman who's ruled like
a king already..." Abruptly, remembering something, he hitched at his
belt-purse, and brought out a flat package wrapped in embroidered wool. "She
sent you this, seeing it's a long time since you had a sight of her." The
portrait was painted with skill, in encaustic wax on wood. Even allowing for
convention, which smoothed away personality like a blemish, it could be seen
that she was Philip's daughter. The strong hair, the thick upswept eyebrows,
the resolute square face, had defeated the artist's well-meant insipidity.
Perdikkas thought, Two years younger than Alexander- about thirty-one, now. "A
queenly and gracious lady," he said aloud. "A dowry in herself, kingdom or
no." He found more of this kind to say, while he played for time. Danger was
great; ambition also. Alexander had taught him long ago to       assess,
decide,   and act. "Well," he said, "this is serious business. She needs
something more than a yes. Let me sleep on this. When you dine with us
tonight, I'll tell them all you brought a letter from Olympias. She's forever
writing." "I have brought one. She approves, as you may well
suppose." Perdikkas set the thick roll aside, summoned the steward to find
his guest a lodging, and, left alone, sat with his elbows on the rough
camp-table and his head between his hands. Here he was found by his brother
Alketas, whose servants carried two rattling sacks filled with stained, smoked
gold, cups and arm-rings and necklaces and coin; the Isaurians had been
successful robbers. The slaves gone, he showed Perdikkas the loot, and was
annoyed by his abstraction. "Not squeamish?" he said. "You were there in
India, when the men thought the Mallians had killed Alexander. You should have
a strong stomach after that." Perdikkas looked at him in irritation. "We'll
talk later. Is Eumenes back in camp? Find him, he can bath and eat later, I
have to see him now." Eumenes appeared quite shortly, washed, combed and
changed. He had been in his tent, dictating his memoir of the day's events to
Hieronymos, a young scholar who, under his patronage, was writing a chronicle
of the times. His light compact body was toughened and tanned from the
campaign; soon he would be riding north to get his satrapy of Kappadokia in
order. He greeted Perdikkas with a calm alert expectancy, sat down, and read
the letter Perdikkas handed him. At the end, he allowed himself a slight lift
of the brows. Looking up from the scroll, he said, "What is she offering? The
regency or the throne?" Perdikkas understood him perfectly. He meant, Which do
you plan to take? "The regency. Or would I be talking to you
now?" "Leonnatos did," Eumenes reminded him. "And then decided that I knew
too much." He had, in fact, barely escaped with his life, having affirmed his
loyalty to Alexander's son. "Leonnatos was a fool. The Macedonians would have
cut his throat; and they'd cut mine if I disinherited Alexander's boy. If they
elect him when he comes of age, so be it. But he's the Bactrian's son; by that
time, they may not be so fond of him. Then we'll see. Meantime, I'll have been
King in all but name for fifteen years or so, and I shan't complain." "No,"
said Eumenes grimly. "But Antipatros will." Perdikkas sat back in his
leather-slung camp-chair, and stretched out his long legs. "That's the crux.
Advise me. What shall I do with Nikaia?" "A pity indeed," said the Greek,
"that Kleopatra didn't write a few months sooner." He sat reflecting, like a
mathematician before a theorem. "You won't need her now. But you've sent her
the betrothal gifts. She's the Regent's daughter. And she's on her way." "I
offered for her too soon. Everything seemed in chaos; I thought I should make
sure of an ally while I could... Alexander would never have tied his hands
like that. He always made alliances when he could dictate the terms." It was
rarely, now, that he was self-critical; he must be disturbed, Eumenes thought.
He tapped absently at the letter. Perdikkas noted that even his nails were
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clean. "Antipatros puts out his daughters as a fisherman puts out
lines." "Well, I took the bait. What now?" "You've bitten at the bait. The
hook's not yet in your belly. Let us think." His neat thin lips came together.
Even on campaign, he shaved every day. Presently, looking up, he said crisply,
"Take Kleopatra. Take her now. Send an escort to meet Nikaia; tell her you're
sick, wounded; be civil, but have her taken home. Act at once, before
Antipatros is ready. Or he'll hear of it, you won't know how or when; and
he'll act before you're ready." Perdikkas bit his lip. It sounded prompt and
decisive; probably it was what Alexander would have done. Except that he would
never have put himself in need of it. Among these doubts, a disturbing thought
intruded: Eumenes hated Antipatros. The Regent had been snubbing him ever
since he had been a junior secretary, advanced by Philip because of his quick
mind. The old man had all the prejudices of his race against the effete,
fickle, subtle men of the south. Eumenes' loyalty, his distinguished war
record, had never made any difference. Even when he was in Asia as Chief
Secretary to Alexander, Antipatros had tried often to go over his head.
Alexander, whom it irritated, had made a point of replying through
Eumenes. Now that Perdikkas had been counseled to burn his boats, he felt
certain flinching. He said to himself that here was an old enmity, of the kind
that warps a man's better judgment. "Yes," he said, affecting gratitude. "You
are right. I’ll write by her envoy tomorrow." "Better use word of mouth.
Letters can go astray." "... But I'll tell her, I think, that I've already
married Nikaia. It will be true by the time it reaches her. I'll ask her to
wait till I can decently get free. I'll put the palace of Sardis at her
disposal, and ask her to consider us betrothed in secret. That will give me
room to maneuver." Seeing Eumenes looking at him in silence, he felt the need
to justify himself. "If there were only Antipatros to consider... But I don't
like what I hear of Ptolemy. He's raising too big an army down in Egypt. It
only needs one satrap to make a kingdom of his province, and the empire will
fall apart. We must wait a little and see what he means to do." A bland
winter sun shone down through the columned window into Ptolemy's small
audience room. It was a handsome house, almost a small palace, built for
himself by the previous administrator, whom Ptolemy had executed for
oppression. The slight rise commanded a view of new straight streets and
handsome public buildings, their pale unweathered stone touched up with paint
and gilding. New wharves and quays fringed the harbor; hoists and scaffolding
surrounded a couple of nearly finished temples ordered by Alexander. Another
temple, less advanced, but promising to be the most imposing, stood near the
waterfront, where it would dominate the prospect for incoming ships. Ptolemy
had had a busy but congenial morning. He had seen the chief architect,
Deinokrates, about the sculpture on the temples; some engineers, who were
replacing insanitary canals with covered drains; and the heads of several
nomes, to whom he had restored the right to collect taxes. This, to the
Egyptians who had suffered under his predecessor, meant something like a fifty
percent tax reduction. A rapacious man, resolved to execute his commission and
enrich himself as well, he had imposed forced levies and forced labor,
extorted fortunes by threats to kill the sacred crocodiles, or to pull down
villages for building-sites (which he would do in the end, when he had
squeezed them dry). Moreover, he had done all this in the name of Alexander,
which had so enraged Ptolemy that he had gone through the administration like
a consuming fire. It had made him extremely popular, and he had remained
so. He was now busy recruiting. Perdikkas had only allowed him two thousand
men when he took over the satrapy. He had found, when he got there, its
garrison almost mutinous, the men's pay in arrears while the interest was
being skimmed off it. Things were different now. Ptolemy had not been the most
brilliant of Alexander's commanders; but he was reliable, resourceful, brave
and loyal, all things Alexander valued; and, above all, he was good at looking
after his men. He had fought under Philip before Alexander had his first
command: the pupil of two great masters, he had learned from both. Trusted,
sufficiently feared, and liked, he was apt with small touches of personal
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concern. Before his first year was out, thousands of active veterans settled
in Alexandria were begging to re-enlist; by now, volunteers were arriving by
land and sea. He had not allowed this to inflate ambition. He knew his
limits, and had no wish for the stresses of boundless power. He had what he
had wanted, was content with it and meant to keep it; with luck, to add a
little more. His men were well paid and fed; they were also well
trained. "Why, Menandros!" he said warmly as the last applicant came in. "I
thought you were in Syria. Well, this is an easier climb than the Birdless
Rock. You got here without a rope." The veteran, recognized at sight as a
hero of that renowned assault, grinned with delight, feeling that after an
uncertain year he had arrived where he belonged. The interview was happy.
Ptolemy decided to take a break in his inner sanctum. His chamberlain, an
Egyptian of great discretion, scratched at the door. "My lord," he murmured,
"the eunuch of whom you spoke has come from Babylon." The broken nose in
Ptolemy's craggy face pointed like a hound's at a breast-high scent. "I'll see
him here," he said. He waited in the pleasant, cool, Greek-furnished room.
Bagoas was shown in. Ptolemy saw a Persian gentleman, soberly suited in grey,
equipped for travel with a businesslike sword-belt, its slots well stretched
by the weapons left outside. He had grown his hair; a modest length of it
fringed his round felt hat. He looked handsome, lean, distinguished and of no
particular age. Ptolemy supposed he must be twenty-four. He made the graceful
genuflection due to a satrap, was invited to sit, and offered the wine which
had awaited the morning's leisure. Ptolemy made the proper inquiries about his
health and journey; he knew better than to be precipitate with a Persian. It
was clear that the midnight encounter in the paradise was to be remembered in
substance only; etiquette was to be preserved. He remembered from old days
Bagoas' infinite resources of tact. The courtesies fully observed, he asked,
"What news?" Bagoas set aside his wine-cup. "They will be bringing him out
from Babylon two months from now." "And the convoy? Who's in
command?" "Arybbas. No one has questioned it." Ptolemy sighed audibly with
relief. Before marching south, he had proposed this officer to design and
supervise the bier, citing his expertise; he had devised several important
shrines for Alexander, and could handle craftsmen. Not cited was that he had
served in India under Ptolemy's command, and been on excellent terms with his
commander. "I waited," said Bagoas, "till I was sure of it. They would need
him, in case of mishap, to see the bier repaired." "You have made good time,
then." "I came up the Euphrates, and then by camel to Tyre. The rest by sea.
Forty days in all." "You will be able to rest awhile, and still be in Babylon
before they start." "If God permits. As for the bier, in a hundred days it
could hardly reach the coast. The roadmakers are out already, smoothing the
way. Arybbas reckons it will travel ten miles a day on level ground, or five
over hills, if sixty-four mules pull it. To bring it from Asia into Thrace,
they plan to bridge the Hellespont." The quiet madness of the house in the
park was gone. He spoke with the concentration of a man going about his chosen
calling. He looked lean and fit after his long journey. "You have seen it
then?" Ptolemy asked. "Is it worthy of Alexander?" Bagoas considered. "Yes,
they have done all that men can." Arybbas must have excelled himself, Ptolemy
thought. "Come to the window. There is something you must see." He pointed to
the temple rising on the waterfront, the sea, pale blue under the mild sky,
shining between the unfinished columns. "There is his shrine." For a moment,
the reticent face beside him lit and glowed. Just so, Ptolemy remembered from
another life, the boy had looked when Alexander rode past in a victory
parade. "It should be ready in another year. The priests of Ammon would like
him to go to Siwah; they say it would have been his wish. I have considered
it, but I think this is his place." "When you have seen the bier, sir, you
will know it could never go to Siwah. If once its wheels sank into sand, a
team of elephants could not drag it free... That is a fine temple. They have
worked quickly to get so far." Ptolemy had known that this must sometime be
met. He said gently, "It was begun before I came. Alexander approved the plan
himself. It is the temple he ordered for Hephaistion... He did not know how
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soon he himself would need it." Bagoas' face returned to agelessness. He
gazed in silence at the sunlit shafts of stone. Presently he said calmly,
"Hephaistion would give it him. He would have given him anything." Except his
pride, thought Ptolemy; that was his secret, it was why Alexander felt him as
a second self. But it was only possible because they were boys together. Aloud
he said, "Most men would welcome Alexander as a guest, even in death. Well;
let us come to ways and means." At the table he unlocked a silver-clasped
document-box. "This letter I shall give you when you leave, along with funds
for your journey. Do not deliver it in Babylon. When the bier sets out, no one
will wonder that you wish to follow it. Do nothing till it reaches
Thapsakos-the Syrian border will be soon enough-and give it to Arybbas then.
It commits him to nothing. It says I shall meet him at Issos, to do honor to
Alexander. He will hardly suppose, I think, that I shall come alone." "I will
see," said Bagoas coolly, "that he is prepared." "Don't lose the letter in
Babylon. Perdikkas would send an army corps for escort." Wasting no words,
Bagoas smiled. "You have done well. Tell me, have you heard anything of
Roxane's child? He must be walking now. Does he favor Alexander?" One of
Bagoas' fine brows moved upward a very little. "I myself have not seen him.
But the harem people say he takes after his mother." "I see. And King Philip,
how is he?" "Very well in health. He has been allowed a ride on an elephant,
which made him happy." "So. Well, Bagoas, you have earned my gratitude; trust
in it from now on. When you are rested, see the city; it will be your
home." Bagoas made the elegant half-prostration of the gentleman to the
satrap, learned at Darius' court, and took his leave. Later, as the sun
declined towards the western desert, he walked down to the temple. This was
the evening promenade of the Alexandrians, who would pause to notice the
progress of the work; off-duty soldiers of Macedon and Egypt, merchants and
craftsmen from Greece and Lydia and Tyre and Cyprus and Judaea; wives and
children, and hetairas looking for trade. The crowd was not yet oppressive;
the city was still young. The workmen on the site were packing their tools in
their straw bags; the nightwatchmen were coming with their cloaks and
food-baskets. From the ships tied to the waterfront men were going ashore; the
ship-guards on board kindled torches whose tarry smell hung over the water. As
dusk fell, on the temple terrace a burning cresset was hoisted on a tall pole.
It was not unlike the one Alexander used to have by his tent in central Asia,
to show where his headquarters was. The strollers drifted towards home; soon
no one was about but the watchmen and the silent traveler from Babylon. Bagoas
looked at Hephaistion's house, where Alexander would be his guest forever. It
was fitting, it was what he would have wished, and after all it made no
difference. What was, was, as it had always been. When Alexander breathed his
last, Bagoas had known who would be awaiting him beyond the River. That was
why he had not killed himself; the thought was not to be borne of intruding on
that reunion. But Alexander had never been ungrateful, he had never turned
love away. One day, after faithful service done, there would be, as there had
always been, a welcome. He turned back towards the palace guest-house, where
they were lighting lamps. Alexander would be served worthily here. Nothing
else had ever mattered. In the manor-house of the late Prince Amyntas, Kynna
and Eurydike were trimming each other's hair. They were preparing for their
journey. Till they were out of Macedon, they planned to travel as men. The
Regent, Antipatros, was besieging stubborn forts in the mountains of Aitolia,
where the last of the Greek revolt still smoldered on. He had taken most of
his troops. This was their chance. "There," said Kynna, standing back with
the shears. "Many young men wear it as long as that, since Alexander set the
fashion." Neither of them had had to sacrifice much hair; it was strong and
wavy, not long. A maid was called to sweep up the clippings. Eurydike, who had
already prepared her mule-packs, went to the stack of spears in the corner,
and chose out her favorite javelins. "We shan't have much chance to practice
on the road." "Let us hope," said Kynna, "that we may not need them in
earnest." "Oh, robbers won't attack ten men." They were taking an escort of
eight retainers. She glanced at her mother's face, and added, "You're not
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afraid of Olympias?" "No, she is too far away, we shall be in Asia before she
hears." Eurydike looked again. "Mother, what is it?" Kynna was pacing the
room. On stands and tables and shelves were the family treasures, her dead
husband's heritage from his royal father, and pieces from her dowry; her own
father, King Philip, had given her a handsome wedding. She was wondering how
much she dared to entrust to such a journey. Her daughter could not go
empty-handed, but... "Mother, there is something... Is it because we've heard
nothing from Perdikkas?" "Yes. I don't like it." "How long since you wrote
to him?" "I did not. It was proper for him to write." She turned to a shelf
and picked up a silver cup. "There is something else you've not told me. I
know there is. Why is Antipatros against our going? Have they betrothed the
King to someone else?... Mother, don't pretend you don't hear me. I'm not a
child. If you don't tell me, I won't go." Kynna turned around, with a face
that would have meant a whipping a few years back. The tall girl, implacable,
stood her ground. Kynna put down the cup with its boar-hunt chasing. She bit
her lip. "Very well, since you will have it; I daresay it's better. Alexander
said frankly it was an empty marriage. He offered you wealth and rank; I
daresay you could have gone home after, for all he cared." "You never told me
so!" "No, because you were not meant to grow old in a village. Be quiet and
listen. He never looked further than the reconcilement of our houses. That was
because he believed what his mother told him. He believed that his brother was
born a fool." "So are all fools. I don't understand." "Don't you remember
Straton the mason?" "But that was because a stone fell on his head." "Yes.
He was not born stumbling in his speech, or asking for a tree when he wanted
bread. That was done by the stone." "But all my life, I've heard Arridaios
was a fool." "All your life he has been one. You are fifteen, and he is
thirty. When your father was hoping to be King, he told me a good deal about
Philip's house. He said that when Arridaios was born, he was a fine strong
child, and forward. It is true your father was still a child himself, and it
was servants' talk; but he listened, because it concerned another child. They
said that Philip was pleased with the boy, and Olympias knew it. She swore
Philinna's bastard should not disinherit her son. The child was born in the
palace. Maybe she gave him something, maybe she saw to it that something
should hit his head. So your father heard them say." "What a wicked woman!
Poor baby, I would not do it to a dog. But it's done; where is the difference
now?" "Only born fools beget fools. Straton's children are all
sound." Eurydike drew a sharp, shocked breath. Her hands gripped defensively
the javelin she was holding. "No! They said I need not. Even Alexander said
so. You promised me!" "Hush, hush. No one is asking it. That is what I'm
telling you. That is why Antipatros is against it and Perdikkas doesn't write.
It is not what they want. It is what they fear." Eurydike stood still,
absently passing her hand up and down the shaft of the javelin; it was a good
one, of smooth hard cornel-wood. "You mean, they are afraid I could found a
royal line, to displace Alexander's?" "So I think." The girl's hand
tightened on the shaft so that the knuckles paled. "If that is what I must do
to avenge my father, then I will. Because he left no son." Kynna was
appalled. She had only wanted to explain their dangers. Quickly she said that
it had been only slaves' talk; there had always been gossip about Olympias,
that she coupled with serpents, and had conceived Alexander by the fire from
heaven. It might well be true that Philinna had borne a fool, and it had not
shown till the child was growing. Eurydike looked carefully at the javelin,
and put it aside with the few she meant to take. "Don't be afraid, Mother.
Let's wait till we are there, and I can see what I ought to do. Then I will do
it." What have I made, thought Kynna; what have I done? Next moment she
reminded herself that she had made what she had planned, and done what she had
long resolved. She sent word to the herdsmen to bring an unblemished kid, for
a sacrifice to dedicate their enterprise. Arybbas, the creator of Alexander's
bier, made his way to the workshop for his daily visit. He was a dandified but
not effeminate man, soldier and aesthete, a remote kinsman of the royal house,
and of course too aristocratic ever to have worked for hire. Alexander had
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made him lavish presents whenever he had created a shrine, a royal barge, or a
public spectacle, but that had been just between friends. Alexander, who loved
to give money away, took offense when it was stolen, and had valued his
probity as well as his gifts. Ptolemy, when recommending him to Perdikkas, had
stressed this virtue, so necessary in a man handling a great deal of gold. He
had in fact watched it jealously; not a grain had stuck to his fingers, nor
anyone else's. Weighing was a daily rite. A sumptuous designer, used by
Alexander when notable splendor was required, he had used with gusto the whole
treasure entrusted to him, for Alexander's honor and his own. As the
magnificent structure he had inspired took shape under the hammers and gouges
and graving-tools of his hand-picked craftsmen, exultation mingled with
solemnity; he pictured Alexander surveying it with approval. He had
appreciated such things. Arybbas had never cared much for Perdikkas. Outside
the workshop he noticed that Bagoas the eunuch was loitering about again, and,
smiling graciously, beckoned him up. Though hardly a person whose company one
would seek in public, he had shown impeccable taste, and an eye for the finer
points. His devotion to the dead was touching; it was a pleasure to let him
view the work. "You will find a change," he said. "Yesterday they mounted it
on the wheel-base. So now you can see it whole." He rapped with his staff.
Bolts grated; the little postern opened in the great door. They stepped into
shadow surrounding a blaze of glory. The broad matting on the roof, which
kept out bad weather and thieves at night, had been rolled back to open the
great working skylight. The spring sun shafted down dazzlingly on a miniature
temple, sheathed all over with gold. It was some eighteen feet long; its
vaulted roof was of gold scales set with gems, glowing balas rubies, emerald
and crystal, sapphire and amethyst. On its ridge like a banner stood a laurel
wreath with leaves of shimmering sheet-gold; on its corners victories leaned
out, holding triumphant crowns. It was upheld by eight golden columns; around
the cornice was festooned a flower-garland in fine enamels. On the frieze were
pictured the exploits of Alexander. The floor was of beaten gold; the wheels
were sheathed with it, their axles capped with lion-heads. A net of gold wire
half hid the inner sanctuary on three sides; on the fourth, two couchant gold
lions guarded the entry. "See, they have hung the bells." Those too were of
gold; they hung from the tassels of the garland. He lifted his staff and
struck one; a clear musical sound, of surprising resonance, throbbed through
the shed. "They will know of his coming." Bagoas swept his hand across his
eyes. Now he had entered the world again he was ashamed of tears; but he could
hardly bear that Alexander would not see it. Arybbas did not notice; he was
talking to the overseer about making good the dents and scratches caused by
the hoisting. Perfection must be restored. In a far corner of the shed
gleamed, dimly, the sarcophagos, blazoned with the royal sunbursts of Macedon.
Six men could scarcely lift it; it was solid gold. Only at last, at the outset
of his journey, would Alexander be brought out in his cedar coffin where,
hollow and light, he lay in a bed of spices and sweet herbs, to be laid among
more spices in his final resting place. Satisfied that it was undamaged,
Arybbas left. Outside, Bagoas offered unstinted praise, the price of
admission, willingly paid. "It will be counted among the wonders of the
world." He added deliberately, "The Egyptians are proud of their funeral arts;
but even there I saw nothing to compare with it." "You have been to Egypt?"
Arybbas asked, surprised. "Since my service with Alexander ended, I have
traveled a little to pass my time. He spoke so much of Alexandria, I wished to
see it for myself... You sir, of course, were there at its foundation." He
said no more, leaving Arybbas to ask questions. To these he replied
obligingly, leaving loose ends which prompted further questions. These led to
a modest confession that he had been granted an audience with the Satrap. "As
it happened, though officers and friends of Alexander had come from most of
nearer Asia to join his army, I was the only one from Babylon, so he asked for
news. He had heard, he said, that Alexander's bier was to be a marvel, and
asked who had been charged with it. When he knew, he exclaimed that Alexander
himself could wish for no one better. 'If only,' he said, 'Arybbas could be
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here to adorn the Founder's temple.'... Perhaps, sir, that is indiscreet of
me." Fleetingly, like a reflection upon water, appeared the smile which had
entranced two kings. "But I don't think that he would mind." They talked for
some time, Arybbas having found his curiosity about Alexandria sharpened.
Riding back to his house, he was aware he had been delicately probed; but he
did not pursue this thought. If he knew what Ptolemy wanted, it might be his
duty to divulge it; and this, he suspected, might be to his disadvantage. In
the thick-walled palace of red stone on the red-rock citadel of Sardis,
Kleopatra and her women were settled in modest comfort by the standards of
nearer Asia; in luxury by those of Epiros. Perdikkas had the royal apartments
refurbished and redraped, and staffed with well-trained slaves. To Nikaia his
bride, during their brief honeymoon, he had explained the arrival of the
Molossian Queen by saying she was in flight from her mother, who had usurped
her power and threatened her life; a daughter of Antipatros would believe
anything of Olympias. After some ceremonious festivities suited to her rank,
he had despatched the lady to an estate of his nearby, on the grounds that war
continued and he would soon be taking the field. Returning to Sardis, he
resumed his courtship of Kleopatra. His visits and costly gifts had all the
conventions of betrothal. Kleopatra had enjoyed her journey; the family
restlessness had not passed her by. The sight of new horizons had consoled her
even for leaving her son behind. His grandmother would treat him like a son
of her own whom she could train for kingship. When she herself was married and
living in Macedon, she could see him often. She had assessed Perdikkas more
as a colleague than a husband. He was a dominating man, and she had sounded
him for signs that he would overrule and bully her. It seemed, however, he had
the sense to know that without her support he could neither get nor keep the
regency. Later, depending on how he behaved, she might help him to the throne.
He would be a hard king; but after Antipatros a soft one would be
despised. With a certain detachment, she imagined him in bed with her, but
doubted it would be of much importance to either of them once she had produced
an heir. Clearly, it would be more valuable and more lasting to make a friend
of him than a lover; this she was already doing with some success. On this
day of early spring he was to take the midday meal with her. Both preferred
the informality of noon and the chance of undisturbed talk. The single dish
would be good; he had found her a Karian cook. She studied his tastes against
the time when they would be married. She did not mean to deal hardly with
Antipatros' poor plain little girl, as her mother had done with rivals; Nikaia
could go back safe to her family. The Persian wife from Susa had done so long
ago. He arrived on foot from his quarters at the other end of the rambling
palace, whose buildings clambered about the rock. He had dressed for her with
a jeweled shoulder-brooch and a splendid arm-ring clasped with gold gryphon
heads. His sword-belt was set with plaques of Persian cloisonné. Yes, she
thought, he would make a convincing king. He liked to talk of his wars under
Alexander, and she to listen; only fragmented news had reached Epiros, and he
had seen the whole. But before they had reached the wine, her eunuch
chamberlain coughed at the door. A despatch had arrived for His Excellency's
urgent attention. "From Eumenes," he said as he broke the seal. He spoke
rather too easily, aware that Eumenes called nothing urgent without good
cause. As he read, she saw his weathered tan go sallow, and sent out the
slave who was serving them. Like most men of his time, he sounded the words he
read (it was thought remarkable in Alexander to have suppressed this reflex);
but his jaw had set; she heard only an angry mutter. Seeing his face at the
end, she guessed that he would look like this in war. "What is it?" she
said. "Antigonos has fled to Greece." Antigonos... while he stared before
him, she remembered that this was the Satrap of Phrygia, nicknamed One-Eye.
"Was he not under arrest for treason? I suppose he was afraid." He gave a
snort like a horse's. "He, afraid? He has gone to betray me to
Antipatros." She saw that he wanted only to be thinking ahead; but there was
more here than she had been told, and she had a right to know. "What was the
treason? Why was he being held?" He answered savagely, "To stop his mouth. I
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found out that he knew." She took this in without trouble; she was not a
daughter of Macedon for nothing. My father, she thought, would not have done
it; nor Alexander. In the old days... must we go back to that? She only said,
"How did he come to know?" "Ask the rats in the wall. He was the last man I'd
have confided in. He was always close with Antipatros. He must have smelled
something and sent a spy. It's all one now, the harm's done." She nodded;
there was no need to spell it out. They must be married with royal ceremony
before attempting Macedon. There was no time now; Antipatros would be marching
north from Aitolia the moment he got the news. A scrambled wedding would bring
them nothing but scandal. She thought, This will mean war. He swung himself
down from his dining-couch and began to stride the room; she had a stray
thought that they might as well be married already. Wheeling round, he said,
"And I still have to deal with those accursed women." "What women?" She let
her voice sharpen; he was keeping too much, lately, to himself. "You've said
nothing of women; who are they?" He made a sound, compounded of impatience
and embarrassment. "No. It was hardly fitting; but I should have told you.
Philip, your brother..." "Pray, don't call that wittol my brother!" She had
never shared Alexander's tolerance of Philinna's son. Her only passage of arms
with Perdikkas had taken place when he had wanted to install the King in the
palace, as became his rank. "If he comes, I go." He had seen in her face a
flash of Alexander's will. Philip had stayed in the royal tent; he was used to
it, and had no thought of any other arrangement. "What has he to do with
women, in God's name?" "Alexander betrothed him to Adeia, your cousin
Amyntas' daughter. He even granted her the royal name of Eurydike, which she's
made a point of using. I don't know what he meant by it. Shortly before he
died, Philip took a turn for the better. Alexander seemed pleased. You'd not
know, it's too long since you saw either of them. Alexander took him along in
the first place to keep him safe out of the way, in case someone should use
him in Macedon. Also, as he told me one night when he was drunk, because
Olympias might have killed him if he was left behind. But he got a kind of
fondness for him, after taking care of him all those years. He was glad to see
him looking more like a man, and let him be seen with him, helping at the
sacrifices and so on. Half the army saw it, that's why we've the trouble we
have today. But there were no plans for any wedding. If he'd not fallen ill,
he'd have marched to Arabia within the month. In the end, I expect, the
marriage would have been by proxy." "He never told me!" For a moment her face
was an injured child's; a long story was there, if Perdikkas had cared to read
it. "That was on account of your mother. He was afraid, if she knew, she'd do
the girl an injury." "I see," said Olympias' daughter, without surprise. "But
he should never have done it. Of course we must free her now, poor child." He
did not answer. In a new voice of authority, she said, "Perdikkas, these are
my kin. It is for me to say." "Madam, I know." He spoke with studied respect;
he could well afford it. "But you have misunderstood. Antipatros canceled the
contract with my agreement, some months ago. In his absence, without his
leave, her mother Kynna has brought the girl to Asia. They are demanding that
the marriage shall proceed." His exasperation spoke for his truth.
"Shameless!" she cried. "There you see the barbarian blood!" It might almost
have been Olympias speaking. "Indeed. They are true Illyrians. I hear that
they traveled as far as Abdera dressed as men, and carrying arms." "What will
you do with them? I can have no dealings with such creatures." "They will be
dealt with. I have no time; I must meet with Eumenes, before Antipatros
crosses to Asia. Krateros will be sure to join him, which is much worse. The
men love Krateros... My brother will have to meet them, and keep them from
making mischief." Presently he left to make his dispositions. One of these
was to send to Ephesos, summoning Roxane and her child. He had known better
than to quarter the Bactrian on the daughter of Philip and Olympias; besides,
if she knew of their plans she would probably have him poisoned. But now it
was time to move and she must follow the army. At least, he thought, she was
used to that. On the high road to the Syrian coast, flashing in the sun and
ringing all its bells, the bier of Alexander trundled towards Issos. The
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sixty-four mules drew it, four yoke-poles hitching each four teams of four.
The mules wore gold wreaths, and little gold bells on their cheeks. Their
tinkling, and the deep clear chime of the bells upon the bier, mingled with
the shouts of the muleteers. In the shrine, between the gold columns and the
shimmering golden nets, the sarcophagos lay draped with its purple pall. On it
was displayed Alexander's panoply of arms, his helmet of white iron, his
jeweled sword-belt, his sword and shield and greaves. The cuirass was the
parade one; the one he had used in battle was too worn and hacked to match the
splendors around. When the iron-bound felloes of the gold-sheathed wheels
jolted on rough ground, the bier only swayed gently; there were hidden springs
above the axles. Alexander would come whole to his tomb. Veterans in the
escort said to each other that if he had been anywhere near as careful of his
body while he was alive, he would be with them yet. All along the road
sightseers stood in expectant clusters, awaiting the sound of the distant
bells. The fame of the bier had far outstripped its progress. Peasants had
walked a day from mountain hamlets, and slept in the open to await it; riders
on horses or mules or asses kept along by it for miles, unwilling to
relinquish it. Boys ran themselves to a standstill, dropping like spent dogs
when the escort struck camp at night, creeping to the cook-fires to beg a
crust, and listening half in dreams to the soldiers' tales. At each town on
the way, sacrifices were offered to the deified Alexander; the local bard
would extol his deeds, inventing marvels when his store of history failed.
Arybbas presided calmly over these solemnities. He had had Ptolemy's letter,
and knew what he would do. Save for his one visit to Arybbas' tent, Bagoas
made himself imperceptible. By day he rode among the changing sightseers; at
night he slept among the Persian soldiers who formed the rear guard. They all
knew who he was, and no one troubled him. He was keeping faith with his lord,
as a true follower of Mithra ought. They respected his pious pilgrimage, and
thought no more of it. Kynna and her daughter had traveled as armed men,
sleeping in their baggage-cart with their retainers in the open round them,
till they could take ship from Abdera. There the people were Greek, there was
plenty of merchant shipping, and the only question asked was whether they
could pay. Kynna, who could deceive no one at close quarters, resumed female
dress; Eurydike traveled as her son. The ship carried hides on deck; the
retainers found them a grateful bed at night, but their smell made Eurydike
sick at the first flurry of wind. At last, they sailed into the green
sheltering arms of the long gulf of Smyrna. From now on, their progress must
be very different. Smyrna consisted of ancient ruins, an old village, and a
brand-new town refounded by Alexander, whom the harbor had impressed. The
traffic had grown with his conquests, and it was now a busy port. Here they
would be seen and spoken of; though Babylon was still far off, they must think
about appearances. The old man who acted as their major-domo-he remembered
Amyntas' father-went before them to seek good lodgings, and hire transport for
the long journey overland. He returned with startling news. The journey to
the east was not required of them. Perdikkas, and King Philip with him, were
no further off than Sardis, some fifty miles. They felt a shock, as people do
when a distant crisis leaps up close; then told each other that luck was
speeding them. Eurydike went ashore with a long cloak over her tunic, and, in
the lodging, assumed himation and robe. They must travel at once with public
consequence, a king's betrothed traveling to her bridal. They should of course
have been met at the port by a kinsman or friend of the groom; but the greater
their state, the less they would be questioned. They could afford lavishness
for so short a journey; Amyntas' estates had never been confiscated, their
quiet life had not been due to poverty. When, two days later, they set out,
their train was an imposing one. Thoas the major-domo, who had purchased them
maids and porters, reported that according to people here they should have a
eunuch chamberlain. Kynna, much outraged, replied that they were Greek, as was
her daughter's bridegroom, and they had not crossed to Asia to adopt the
disgusting customs of the barbarians. Alexander, she had heard, had been given
too much that way. The faithful Thoas, transacting all this business, made no
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secret of his ladies' rank, or of their purpose. It was no spy, but the
eternal gossip of travelers on the road, that ran ahead of them with the news
to Sardis. The field of Issos still yielded up old weapons and old bones.
Here, where Darius had first fled from Alexander's spear leaving mother and
wife and children to await the victor, two armies sacrificed a milk-white bull
before the golden bier. Ptolemy and Arybbas poured incense side by side. The
escort had been much moved by Ptolemy's address, affirming the divine hero's
wish that his body return to his father Ammon. Each of Arybbas' men had been
given a hundred drachmas, a bounty worthy even of Alexander. Arybbas himself
had received, in private, a talent of silver, and in public the rank of
general in the Satrap's army, whither all his Macedonian troops had agreed to
follow him. There was a feast at night in Alexander's honor; a whole
spit-roast sheep and an amphora of wine to each campfire. Next morning, satrap
and general riding either side the bier, the funeral cortege turned south
towards the Nile. Bagoas, whose name had been proclaimed in no citation,
followed behind the rear guard. The other Persians had gone home; but the
troops from Egypt made the column a very long one, and he was far, now, from
the bier. When he topped a rise, he could just see its glittering crest. But
he rode contented. His task was done, his god was served; and there would
still be his fame to tend in his chosen city. A Greek might have seen in him
the serenity of the initiate, fresh from a celebration of his
mystery. Kynna's caravan was within a day's journey from Sardis. They were
not hurrying; they meant to arrive there next morning before the heat began.
Its fame had reached even Macedon for wealth and luxury; the bride of a king
must not be outshone by his subjects. Overnight they would prepare their
entry. Along the road, the stony heights were topped with old forts, newly
repaired by Alexander to command the passes. They passed rock-slabs carved
with symbols, and inscriptions in unknown writing. The travelers who passed
them making for the port were all barbarians, strange to sight and smell;
Phoenicians with blue-dyed beards, Karians with heavy earrings dragging down
their lobes; a train of Negro carriers bare to the waist, their blackness
strange and terrible to a northern eye used only to the red-haired slaves of
Thrace; sometimes a trousered Persian, the legendary ogre of Greek children,
with embroidered hat and curved sword. To Eurydike all was adventure and
delight. She thought with envy of world-wandering Alexander and his men.
Kynna, beside her under the striped awning, kept a cheerful countenance, but
felt her spirits flag. The alien speech of the passers-by, the inscrutable
monuments, the unknown landscape, the vanishing of all she had pictured in
advance, were draining her of certainty. Those black-veiled women, carrying
burdens beside the donkeys their menfolk rode, if they knew her purpose would
think her mad. The two-wheeled cart jolted over stones, her head was aching.
She had known that the world was vast, that Alexander in ten years had never
reached the end of it; but at home in her native hills it had no meaning. Now,
on the mere threshold of the illimitable east, she felt like a desolation its
indifferent strangeness. Eurydike, who had been admiring the defenses of the
forts and pointing out their chain of beacons, said, "Is it true, do you
think, that Sardis is three times as big as Pella?" "I daresay. Pella is only
two generations old; Sardis ten maybe, or even more." The thought oppressed
her. She looked at the girl in her careless confidence, and thought, I brought
her here from home, where she could have lived out her life in quiet. She has
no one but me to turn to. Well, I am healthy and still young. Night would
soon fall. An outrider brought news that they were within ten miles of Sardis.
Soon they must find a camping-place. A rocky turn shut off the westering sun,
and the road grew dusky. The slope above them, dark against a reddening sky,
was scattered with great boulders. Somewhere among them a man's voice called,
"Now!" Stones and shale fell rattling on the road, dislodged by scrambling
men. Thoas at the escort's head shouted out, "Ware thieves!" The men reached
the road, thirty or forty of them, on foot, with spears. Among them the escort
looked what it was, a troop of willing, confused old men. Those who had ever
fought had done it in Philip's wars. But they were true Macedonians, with the
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archaic virtues of the liegeman. They shouted defiance, and thrust at the
bandits with their spears. The squeal of a wounded horse echoed against the
rocks. Old Thoas fell with his mount; a huddle of men closed stabbing over
them. There was a high shout, a wordless "Hi-yi!" of challenge. Kynna leaped
down from the cart, Eurydike beside her. Their spears had been at hand; with
practiced speed they had kilted their shirts into their girdles. With their
backs to the cart, which rocked with the shifting of the frightened mules,
they stood to face the enemy. Eurydike felt a shiver of exultation. Here at
last was war, real war. Though she could guess the consequence of defeat if
they were taken alive, it was mainly a good reason for fighting well. A man
reached out at her, fair-skinned, with a week's red stubble on his chin. He
had on a hide cuirass, so she went for his arm. The spear sunk in; he leaped
back crying out, "You hellcat!" grasping the wound. She laughed at him; then
realized with a sudden shock that here, in Lydia, a bandit had spoken
Macedonian. One of the lead mules, hurt by a spear, suddenly squealed and
leaped forward. The whole team bolted, the cart bucking and bouncing behind.
It struck her, but she just kept her feet. There was a cry beside her. Kynna
had fallen; she had been braced against the cart when it moved off. A soldier
was leaning over her with a spear. A man came forward with upheld hand. The
men around her withdrew. It grew quiet, except for the struggling mules which
had been pulled up by the soldiers, and the groans of three of the escort on
the ground. The rest had been overpowered, save for old Thoas, who was
dead. Kynna moaned; the almost animal sound of a warm-blooded creature
struggling in pain to breathe. Her breast was stained with red. Eurydike's
first impulse was to run to her, take her in her arms, entreat the bandits for
mercy. But Kynna had trained her well. This too was war; there would be no
mercy for asking, only for winning. She looked at the chief who had been at
once obeyed, a tall dark man with a lean cold face. Knowledge was instant: not
bandits, soldiers. Kynna groaned again; the sound was fainter now. Pity and
rage and grief lit like one flame in Eurydike, as they did in Achilles,
shouting for dead Patroklos on the wall. She leaped to her mother's body and
stood across it. "You traitors! Are you men of Macedon? This is Kynna, King
Philip's daughter, the sister of Alexander." There was a startled pause. The
men all turned towards the officer. He looked angry and disconcerted. He had
not told them. A thought came to her. She spoke this time in the.language of
the soldiers, the peasant dialect of the countryside she had known she was
taught court Greek. "I am Philip's grandchild, look at me! I am. Amyntas'
daughter, the grandchild of King Philip and King Perdikkas." She pointed at
the lowering officer. "Ask him. He knows!" The oldest soldier, a man in his
fifties, walked across to him. "Alketas." He used the name without honorific,
as a freeman of Macedon could do to kings. "Is what she says true?" "No! Obey
your orders." The soldier looked from him to the girl, and from her to the
other men. "I reckon it's true," he said. The men drew together; one of them
said, "They're no Sarmatians, like he said. They're as Macedonian as I
am." "My mother..." Eurydike looked down. Kynna stirred, but blood was
running from her mouth. "She brought me here from Macedon. I am betrothed to
Philip, your King, the brother of Alexander." Kynna stirred. She rose a
little on one arm. Chokingly she said, "It is true. I swear by...” She
coughed. A rush of blood came out, and she fell back. Eurydike dropped her
spear and knelt beside her. Her eyes fixed, showing the whites. The old
soldier who had faced Alketas came over and stood before her, confronting the
rest. "Let them alone!" he said. Another and another joined him; the rest
leaned on their spears in a confused and sullen shame. Eurydike flung herself
on her mother's body and wept aloud. Presently, through the sound of her own
crying, she heard voices raised. It was the sound of mutiny. Had she known, it
was one with which Macedonian generals were growing over-familiar. Ptolemy had
confided to close friends in Egypt that he was glad to hand-pick his men, and
be rid of the standing army. It put one in mind of Alexander's old horse
Boukephalas, liable to kick anyone else who tried to mount him. Like the
horse, it had been too long used to a rider with clever hands. More urgently
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now, Eurydike thought of throwing herself upon their mercy, begging them to
burn her mother's body decently, give her the ashes to bury in the homeland,
and take her back to the sea. But, as she wiped the blood from Kynna's face,
she knew it for the face of a warrior steadfast to the death. Her shade must
not find that she had borne a coward. Under her hand was the gold pendant her
mother always wore. It was bloodstained, but she slipped it over the lifeless
head, and stood erect. "See. Here is my grandfather King Philip's likeness.
He gave it to my grandmother Audata on her wedding day, and she to my mother
when she married Amyntas, King Perdikkas' son. Look for yourself." She put it
in the veteran's cracked horny hand; they crowded round him, poring over the
gold roundel with the square-boned, bearded profile. "Aye, Philip it is," the
veteran said. "I saw him many a time." He rubbed it clean on a fold of his
homespun kilt and gave it back to her. "You should take care of that," he
said. He spoke as if to a young niece; and it struck a chord in all of them.
She was their foundling, the orphan of their rescue and adoption. They would
take her to Sardis, they told Alketas; she had Philip's blood in her as any
fool could see; and if Alexander had promised her his brother, wed they should
be, or the army would know why. "Very well," said Alketas. He knew by now
that discipline hung by a thread, and maybe his life. "Then get the road
cleared, and look alive." With rough competence the soldiers laid Kynna out
in the cart, and covered her with a blanket; brought their own transport-cart
for the dead and wounded guards, picked up the baggage which the porters had
dropped when with the maids they fled to the hills. They settled the cushions
for Eurydike, to ride beside her dead. One of them rode off willingly with
Alketas' despatch to his brother Perdikkas. On his way would be the main camp
of Perdikkas' and Eumenes' armies, where he could spread the news. So, when
the last turn of the road showed her the red-rock citadel with the city around
its feet, it showed her also a great throng of soldiers, crowding the road,
and parting to make an avenue of honor, as if for a king. As she came they
cheered her. Close to her by the road she heard gruff murmurs: "Poor maid."
"Forgive them, lady, he told them wrong." The strangeness, the dreamlike
consummation of their long intent, made her mother's death dreamlike too,
though she could have reached out and touched the body. From her high window,
Kleopatra looked down with Perdikkas, fuming, beside her. She saw his
impotence, and struck her hand in anger on the sill. "You are permitting
this?" "No choice. If I arrest her, we shall have a mutiny. Now of all
times... They know that she's Philip's grandchild. " "And a traitor's
daughter! Her father plotted my father's murder. Will you let her marry his
son?" "Not if I can help it." The cart was coming nearer. He tried to descry
the face of Amyntas' daughter, but it was too far. He must go down and make
some gesture which would preserve his dignity and, with luck, gain time. Just
then new movement below, from a new direction, caught his eye. He leaned out,
stared, and, cursing, swung back into the room. "What is it?" His rage and
dismay had startled her. "Hades take them! They are bringing Philip out to
her." "What? How can-" "They know where his tent is. You wouldn't have him
here. I must go." He flung out, without even the curtest apology. For a very
little, she thought, he would have cursed her, too. Down below in the thick
outer walls the huge gates stood wide. The cart halted. A group of soldiers,
pulling something, came running out of the gateway. "Lady, if you'll please
to step down, we've something here more fit for you." It was an old and
splendid chariot, its front and sides plated with silver gryphons and gold
lions. Lined with tooled red leather, it had been built for Kroisos, that
legend for uncounted riches, the last Lydian King. Alexander had made a
progress in it, to impress the people. This moving throne made her sense of
dream grow deeper. She came to herself to say that she could not leave her
mother's body untended. "She'll be watched with, lady, like she ought, we've
seen to that." Worn black-clad women came forward with eager pride; veterans'
wives, looking from work and weather old enough to be their mothers. A soldier
approached to hand Eurydike down. At the last moment Alketas, making a virtue
of necessity, came up to do the office. For a moment she flinched; but that
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was not the wav to take an enemy's surrender. She inclined her head
graciously and took his offered arm. A team of soldiers grasped the
chariot-pole, and pulled it forward. She sat like a king on Kroisos'
chair. Suddenly, the sound of the cheering altered. She heard the ancient
Macedonian cries: "Io Hymen! Euoi! Joy to the bride! Hail to the groom!" The
groom was coming towards her. Her heart gave a lurch. This part of the dream
had been blurred. The man came riding, on a beautiful, slow-pacing
dapple-grey. A grizzled old soldier led it by the rein. The face of the
bearded rider was not unlike the one on the gold medallion. He was looking
about him, blinking a little. The old soldier pointed towards her. When he
looked straight at her, she saw that he was frightened, scared to death. Among
all she had thought of, so far as she had allowed herself to think at all, she
had not thought of this. Urged by the soldiers, he dismounted and walked up
to the chariot, his blue eyes, filled with the liveliest apprehension, fixed
on her face. She smiled at him. "How are you, Arridaios? I am your cousin
Eurydike, your uncle Amyntas' daughter. I have just come from home. Alexander
sent for me." The soldiers all around murmured approval, admiring her quick
address, and cried, "Long live the King." Philip's face had brightened at the
sound of his old name. When he was Arridaios he had had no duties, no bullying
rehearsals with impatient men. Alexander had never bullied, only made one
pleased to get things right. This girl reminded him, somehow, of Alexander.
Cautiously, less frightened now, he said, "Are you going to marry me?" A
soldier burst into a guffaw, but was manhandled by indignant comrades. The
rest listened eagerly to the scene. "If you would like it, Arridaios.
Alexander wanted us to marry." He bit his lip in a crisis of irresolution.
Suddenly he turned to the old soldier who led his horse. "Shall I marry her,
Konon? Did Alexander tell me to?" One or two soldiers clapped hands over
their mouths. In the muttering pause, she was aware of the old servant
subjecting her to a searching scrutiny. She recognized a resolute protector.
Ignoring the voices, some of them growing ribald, which were urging the King
to speak up for the girl before she changed her mind, she looked straight at
Konon, and said, "I will be kind to him." The wariness in his faded eyes
relaxed. He gave her a little nod, and turned to Philip, still eyeing him
anxiously. "Yes, sir. This is the lady you're betrothed to, the maid Alexander
chose for you. She's a fine, brave lady. Reach out your hand to her, and ask
her nicely to be your wife." Eurydike took the obedient hand. Large, warm and
soft, it clung to hers appealingly. She gave it a reassuring
pressure. "Please, Cousin Eurydike, will you marry me? The soldiers want you
to." Keeping his hand, she said, "Yes, Arridaios. Yes, King Philip, I
will." The cheers began in earnest. Soldiers who were wearing their
broad-brimmed hats flung them into the air. The cries of "Hymen!" redoubled.
They were trying to coax Philip into the chariot beside her, when Perdikkas,
red and panting from his race down the steep and winding steps of the ancient
city, arrived upon the scene. Alketas met him, speaking with his eyes. Both
knew too well the mood in which Macedonians grew dangerous. They had seen it
in the time of Alexander, who had dealt with it at Opis by leaping from his
dais and arresting the ring-leaders with his bare hands. But such things had
been Alexander's mystery; anyone else would have been lynched. Alketas met
with a shrug of the shoulders his brother's furious stare. Eurydike in the
chariot guessed at once who Perdikkas was. For a moment she felt like a child
before a formidable adult. But she stood her ground, sustained by strengths
she was largely unaware of. She knew she was the grandchild of Philip and King
Perdikkas, great-grandchild of Illyrian Bardelys, the old terror of the
border; but she did not know they had bequeathed her more than pride in them;
she had some of their nature, too. Her sequestered youth, fed upon legends,
let her see in her situation nothing absurd or obscene. All she knew was that
these men who had cheered her should not see her afraid. Philip had been
standing with one hand upon the chariot, arguing with the men who had been
trying to hoist him into it. Now he grabbed her arm. "Look out!" he said.
"Here comes Perdikkas." She put her hand over his. "Yes, I see him. Come up
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here, and stand by me." He scrambled up; encouraging soldiers steadied the
chariot as his weight rocked it. Grasping the rail, he stood rigid with scared
defiance; she rose to her feet beside him, summoning her nerve. Briefly, they
presented an uncanny resemblance of a triumphant pair, remote in pride and
power. Tauntingly, the soldiers flung at Perdikkas the marriage cry. He
reached the chariot; there was a moment of held breath. Then he raised his
hand in salute. "Greeting, King. Greeting, daughter of Amyntas. I am glad
that the King has been prompt to welcome you." “The soldiers made me,"
mumbled Philip anxiously. Eurydike's clear voice cut in: "The King has been
very gracious." Philip gazed anxiously at these two protagonists. No
vengeance from Perdikkas happened. The soldiers were pleased, too. He gave a
conniving grin. Hiding with care her almost incredulous amazement, Eurydike
knew that, for the present, she had won. "Perdikkas," she said, "the king has
asked for my hand with the good will of the Macedonians. But my mother, the
sister of Alexander, is lying here murdered, as you know. First of all I must
have leave to direct her funeral." Loud, respectful sounds of approval
greeted this. Perdikkas agreed with as good a grace as he could. Scanning the
sullen faces, thinking of Antipatros' forces making for the Hellespont, he
added that the death of her noble mother had been a shocking error, due to
ignorance and to the valor of her defense. The matter would of course be
searched to the bottom shortly. Eurydike bowed her head, aware that she would
never know what Alketas' orders had really been. Kynna would at least meet the
flame with all the honors of war; one day her ashes must return to Aigai.
Meantime, her funeral offerings must be courage and resolve. As for her
blood-price, that would be with the gods. The funeral was barely over, when
news reached Perdikkas that Alexander's bier was proceeding in state to
Egypt. It struck him like a thunderbolt. All his plans had been directed
against the threat from the north, the outraged father-in-law to whom he had
already despatched Nikaia. Now, from the south, came a clear declaration of
war. Eumenes was still in Sardis, summoned when danger came from the north
alone. It had come, as they both knew, from neglect of his advice to marry
Kleopatra openly, to send Nikaia still virgin home, and advance at once on
Macedon. This was not spoken of. Like Kassandra, Eumenes was fated never to
reap much good from being right. A Greek among Macedonians had no business to
know best. He refrained, therefore, from pointing out that Perdikkas could now
have been Regent of Macedon with a royal bride, a power against which Ptolemy
could have attempted nothing; and merely voiced a doubt that he was planning
war. "All he has done so far in Egypt has been to dig in and make himself
snug. He's ambitious, yes; but what are his ambitions? It was a fine piece of
insolence to steal the body; but even that may be only to glorify Alexandria.
Will he trouble us if he's let alone?" "He's already annexed Kyrene. And he's
raising a bigger army than he needs." "How does he know? If you march against
him he'll need it." Perdikkas said with sudden venom, "I hate the
man." Eumenes offered no comment. He remembered Ptolemy as a gangling youth,
hoisting the child Alexander up on his horse for a ride. Perdikkas had been a
friend of the King's manhood, but it had never been quite the same. Alexander
promoted on merit-even Hephaistion had started at the bottom-and Perdikkas had
outstripped Ptolemy in the end. But it was Ptolemy who had suited Alexander
like a well-worn, comfortable shoe; the trusted Perdikkas had never quite
matched that ease. Ptolemy, by instinct and from watching Alexander, had a way
with men; he knew when to relax discipline as well as when to tighten it; when
to give, when to listen, when to laugh. Perdikkas felt the absence of that
sixth sense as a man might feel short sight; and envy ate at him. "He's like
a vicious dog, that eats the flock it should be guarding. If he's not whipped
back, the rest will be at it too." "Maybe; but not yet. Antipatros and
Krateros will be marching now." Perdikkas' dark jaw set stubbornly. He has
charged, thought Eumenes, since Alexander died. His desires have changed. They
grow hubristic, and he knows it. Alexander contained us all. Perdikkas said,
"No, Ptolemy can't wait. That asp of Egypt must be stepped upon in the
egg." "Then we divide the army?" His voice was neutral; a Greek among
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Macedonians had said enough. "Needs must. You shall go north, and refuse
Antipatros and Hellespont. I will settle with Ptolemy, and settle for good...
But before we march, we must have this accursed wedding. The men won't move
else. I know them too well." Later that day, Perdikkas spent an hour
reasoning with Kleopatra. In the end, with flattery, cold logic, appeal, and
as much charm as he could conjure, he persuaded her to act as Eurydike's
matron of honor. The troops were set on the marriage; it must be done with a
good grace. Any grudging would be remembered against them both, which they
could not afford. "The girl was a child at nurse," he said, "when they
murdered Philip. I doubt even Amyntas was more than on the fringe of it. I was
there when he was tried." "Yes, I daresay. But it is all disgusting. Has she
no shame at all? Well, you have dangers enough without my making more for you.
If Alexander was willing to give it countenance, I suppose I can do the
same." Eumenes did not await the feast. He marched at once to meet the forces
of Antipatros and Krateros (another of his sons-in-law); leading the
Macedonians with their loose and dubious loyalty to the alien Greek. For
Eumenes, that was an old story. Perdikkas, whose business was less urgent,
stayed on another week to give his troops their show. Two days before the
wedding, a flustered maid announced to Eurydike in her inner room-built for
the chief wife of old Kroisos-that the Queen of the Epirotes had come to visit
her. Kleopatra arrived in state. Olympias had not stinted her since she left
home; meanness had never been one of her sins. Her daughter came dressed like
a queen, and with queenly gifts: a broad gold necklace, a roll of Karian
embroidery stitched with lapis and gold. For a moment, Eurydike was
overwhelmed. But Kynna had trained her in manners as well as war; she achieved
a kind of naive dignity which moved Kleopatra against her will. She remembered
her own wedding, to an uncle old enough to be her father, at seventeen. The
compliments paid, the formal sweet cakes tasted, she went dutifully over the
wedding ritual. It was a dry business, since there could be no question of the
sly feminine jokes traditional at such a conference. Careful correctness
resulted. Kleopatra's sense of duty nagged at her. This grave guarded girl,
left alone in the world at fifteen; what did she know? Kleopatra smoothed her
gown over her knees, and looked up from her ringed fingers. "When you met the
King"-how allude to so disgraceful an occasion?-"did you have time to talk
with him? Perhaps you saw he is a little young for his years?" Eurydike's
straight eyes met hers, deciding that she meant well and must be answered
civilly. "Yes. Alexander told my mother so; and I see it is so." This was
promising. "Then, when you are married, what do you mean to do? Perdikkas
would give you an escort to your kin in Macedon." Eurydike thought, It is not
quite a command, because it cannot be one. She answered quietly, "The King has
a right that I should be his friend, if he needs a friend. I will stay for a
while and see." Next day, such ladies of standing as Sardis could
supply-wives of senior officers and administrators, with a few timid ornate
Lydians-paid their respects. Later, in the quiet afternoon, sacred since
Kroisos' day to the siesta, came a different caller. A twittering maid
announced a messenger from the household of the bridegroom. Old Konon, when
shown in, eyed the attendants meaningly. She sent them out, and asked what
message he brought. "Well, madam... to wish you health and joy, and God speed
and happy day." Delivered of this set speech, he swallowed audibly. What could
be coming? Eurydike, dreading the unknown, looked withdrawn and sullen.
Konon, his nervousness increased, marshaled his words. "Madam, he's taken a
real liking to you, that's sure. He's forever talking of Cousin Eurydike, and
setting out his pretty things to show you... But, madam, I've cared for him
man and boy, and I know his ways, which he sets store by, seeing he was
ill-used before I came. If you please, madam, don't turn me off. You'll not
find me taking liberties or putting myself forward. If you'll just keep me on
trial, to see if I suit; I won't ask more." So that was all! In her relief
she could have embraced him; but of course one must not show it. "Did I not
see you with the King? Your name is Konon, is it not? Yes, you will be welcome
to stay on. Please tell the King so, if he should ask." "He's never thought
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to ask, madam. It would have put him in a terrible taking." They eyed each
other, a little relaxed, still cautious. Konon was reaching for words, even
for the little that could be said at all. "Madam, he's not used to big feasts,
not without Alexander giving him the lead and seeing him through it. I daresay
they told you, he has a bad turn sometimes. Don't be afraid, if you just leave
him to me, he'll soon be right again." Eurydike said she would. Echoing
silence engulfed them. Konon swallowed again. The poor girl would give
anything to know what he didn't know how to tell her-her groom had no notion
that the act of sex could be performed with a second party. At length, turning
crimson, he managed, "Madam, he thinks the world of you. But he'll not trouble
you. It wouldn't be his way." She was not too naive to understand him. With
as much dignity as she could summon, she said, "Thank you, Konon. I am sure
the King and I will agree together. You have leave to go." Philip woke early
on his wedding morning. Konon had promised that he could wear the purple robe
with the great red star. Besides, he was going to be married to Cousin
Eurydike. She would be allowed to stay with him, and he could see her whenever
he liked. Perdikkas himself had said so. That morning, the bath-water came in
a big silver ewer, carried by two well-dressed young men who stayed to pour it
over him, wishing him good luck. This, Konon explained, was because he was a
bridegroom. He saw the young men exchange a grin across him; but such things
often happened. A good many people were singing and laughing outside the
door. He was no longer in his familiar tent, but had a room in the palace; he
did not mind, he had been allowed to bring all his stones. Konon explained
that there was no room in the tent for a lady, while here she could stay next
door. The young men helped him put on the beautiful robe; then he was taken
by Perdikkas to sacrifice at the little temple of Zeus at the top of the hill.
Alexander had built it there, where fire had fallen from heaven. Perdikkas
told him when to throw incense on the burning meat, and what to say to the
god. He got everything right, and the people sang for him; but nobody praised
him afterwards, as Alexander used to do. Perdikkas, indeed, had had trouble
enough to plan a convincing ceremony. Thanks to Alketas, the bride had no
family to give the marriage feast. He was grateful to Kleopatra for consenting
to hold the torch of welcome in the bridal chamber. But what mattered most,
because the troops would see it, was the wedding procession. Then, to
compound his troubles, at midday two forerunners announced the approach of the
lady Roxane. Since this affair, he had entirely forgotten having sent for her,
and had not even asked her to the wedding. Lodgings were hastily prepared;
her closed litter was carried up through the city. The Sardians crowded to
see; the soldiers gave a few restrained greetings. They had never approved of
Alexander's foreign marriages; but now he was dead, a kind of aura clung to
her. Besides, she was the mother of his son. The child was with her. A
Macedonian queen would have held him up for them to see; but Bactrian ladies
did not show themselves in public. The child was teething and fretful, and
could be heard whimpering as the litter passed. Dressed in his wedding robe,
and putting a good face on it, Perdikkas greeted her and invited her to the
feast; prepared, he said, at short notice owing to the imminence of war. "You
told me nothing of it!" she said angrily. "Who is this peasant girl you have
found for him? If the King is to marry, he should have married me." "Among
Macedonians," said Perdikkas frostily, "a dead king's heir does not inherit
his harem. And the lady is granddaughter to two kings." A crisis of
precedence new arose. Alexander and his officers had married their foreign
wives by the local rites; Roxane, ignorant of Macedonian custom, could not be
brought to see that Kleopatra was taking a mother's place and could not be
removed from it. "But I," she cried, "am the mother of Alexander's
son!" "So," said Perdikkas, very nearly shouting, "you are the kinswoman of
the bridegroom. I will send someone to explain the rite to you. See to it that
your part is properly done, if you want your son accepted by the soldiers.
Don't forget they have the right to disinherit him." This sobered her. He had
changed, she thought; grown colder, harsher, more overbearing. He had not
forgiven Stateira's death, it seemed. She was unaware that others had noticed
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a change as well. Philip had looked forward all day to the wedding ride. It
did not disappoint him. Not since the time he rode an elephant had he enjoyed
himself so much. He wore the purple robe, and a gold diadem. Eurydike beside
him had a yellow dress, and a yellow veil flung back from a wreath of gold
flowers. He had thought they would have the car all to themselves, and had
been displeased when Perdikkas got up on the other side. Eurydike was married
to him, and Perdikkas could not marry her as well. Hastily people had
explained that Perdikkas was best man; but it was Cousin Eurydike he listened
to. Now he was married, he felt much less frightened of Perdikkas; he had been
on the point of pushing him out of the car. Drawn by white mules, they drove
along the processional Sacred Way, which bent and turned to bring it downhill
without stairs. It was adorned with old statues and shrines, Lydian, Persian,
Greek. Flags and garlands were everywhere; as the sun sank they were starting
to light the torches. People were standing and cheering all the way, climbing
up on the house-roofs. The tasseled, sequin-netted mules were led by soldiers
wearing scarlet cloaks and wreaths. Behind and in front, musicians played
Lydian airs on flutes and pipes, shook sistra with their little tinkling
bells, and clanged great cymbals. Auspicious cries in mingled tongues rose
like waves. The sunset glow faded, the torches came out like stars. Full of
it all, Philip turned and said, "Are you happy, Cousin Eurydike?" "Very
happy." Indeed, she had imagined nothing to compare with it. Unlike her groom,
she had never before tasted the pomps of Asia. The music, the shouts of
acclamation, elated her like wine. This was her element, and till now she had
never known it. Not for nothing was she the daughter of Amyntas, a king's son
who, when a crown was offered him, could not forebear to reach for it. And
now," she said, "you must not call me cousin any more. A wife is more
important than a cousin." The wedding feast was set out in the great hall,
with a dais for the women in their chairs of honor, a flower-decked throne for
the bride. Her gifts and her dowry were displayed on stands around her. With
wondering and distanced eyes, she saw again the jewels and cups and vases, the
bolts of fine dyed wool, which Kynna had brought with cherishing care from
Macedon. Only one piece was missing, the silver casket which now held her
calcined bones. Kleopatra led her to the King's high table to take her piece
of the bride-loaf, sliced with his sword. It was clear that he had never
handled a sword before; but he hacked a piece off bravely, broke it in two
when told, and, as she tasted hers-the central rite of the wedding-asked her
if it was nice, because his own piece was not sweet enough. Back on her dais,
she listened to a hymn by a choir of maidens; Lydians mostly, mangling the
words, a few Greek daughters trying hard to be heard. Then she became aware
that the women round her were murmuring together, stirring with little fidgets
of preparation. With a sudden clutch in her midriff, she knew that when the
song ended, they would lead her to the nuptial chamber. All through the ride,
nearly all through the feast, she had overleaped this moment, throwing her
mind ahead to next month, next year, or living in the present only. "Have you
had instruction?" She looked round with a start. The voice, with a strong
foreign accent, came from just beside her. Not till this morning had she met
the widow of Alexander. She had bowed to a small jeweled woman, stiff with
embroideries of gold and pearl, rubies like pigeons' eggs hanging from her
ears. Her surface had been so stunning that she had seemed hardly human, a
kind of splendid adornment for the feast. Now, Eurydike met the gaze of two
large black eyes, their whites brilliantly clear between eyelids dark with
kohl, fixed on her in concentrated malice. "Yes," she said quietly. "So
truly? I had heard your mother was a man as well as your father. To look at
you, one might think so." Eurydike gazed back, fascinated as the prey by the
predator. Roxane, bright as a little shrike, leaned out from her chair of
honor. "If you know all you should, you will be able to teach your husband."
Her rubies flashed; the song, rising to its climax, did not cover her rising
voice. "To Alexander he was like a dog under his table. He trained him to
heel, then sent him back to the kennel. It is my son who is King." The song
was over. Along the dais there were agitated rustlings. Kleopatra rose to her
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feet, as she had seen Olympias do it. The others stood up with her. After a
moment Roxane followed, staring defiantly. In the formal, studied Greek of her
father's court, looking down from her Macedonian height at the little
Bactrian, she said, "Let us remember where we are. And who we are, if we can.
Ladies, come. The torches. Io, Hymen! Joy to the bride!" "Look!" said Philip
to Perdikkas, who had the place of honor beside him. "Cousin Eurydike is going
away!" He scrambled anxiously to his feet. "Not now!" Grabbing him by his
purple robe, Perdikkas thumped him back on his supper-couch. With savage
geniality he added, "She is changing her dress. We will take you to see her
presently." The guests in hearing, even the elegant young Lydian servers who
had picked up a bit of Greek, made stifled noises. Perdikkas, lowering his
voice, said, "Now listen to the speeches, and when they look at you, smile. We
are going to drink your health." Philip pushed forward his wine-cup, an
engraved gold Achaemenid treasure from the Persian occupation. Konon, standing
behind his chair, got it quickly back from a too-zealous server, and filled it
from a jug of watered wine, in the strength given to Greek children. He looked
incongruous among the graceful Lydians and well-born Macedonian pages waiting
at table. Perdikkas rose to make the best man's speech, recalling the groom's
heroic ancestry, the exploits of his grandfather whose name he had
auspiciously assumed; the lineage of his mother, the noble lady of
horse-loving Larissa. His compliments to the bride were adequate, though
rather vague. Philip, who had been occupied in feeding someone's curly white
poodle which had been sitting under the table, looked up in time to
acknowledge the cheers with an obedient grin. A harmless person, a distant
royal connection, responded for the bride, uttering bland platitudes about her
beauty, virtue and high descent. Once more the health was given, and honored
with ritual shouts. It was the time for serious drinking. Goblets were
emptied and briskly filled, faces reddened under tilting wreaths, voices grew
louder. Captains still in their thirties argued and bragged about past wars
and women; Alexander had died young with young men all about him. For the
older men, a real Macedonian wedding brought back the feasts of their youth.
Nostalgically, they roared out the time-honored phallic jokes remembered from
their family bridals. The noble pages had slipped out to get their share.
Presently one said, "Poor fellow. Old Konon might let him have a mouthful he
can taste, at his own wedding. It might put heart in him." He and a friend
came up behind Philip's couch. "Konon, Ariston over there told me to say he
pledges you." Konon beamed, and looked about for his well-wisher; Perdikkas
was talking to the guest on his other side. The second page filled up the
royal cup with neat wine. Philip tasted his new drink, liked it, and tilted
back his cup. By the time Konon noticed and angrily diluted it, he had had
more than half. Some of the men started to sing a skolion. It was not yet
lewder than a wedding feast allowed, but Perdikkas pulled himself together. He
had known all along that this could not be a long drinking-bout. A little
time yet could be allowed for hospitality, but soon he must break it up. He
stopped drinking, to keep alert. Philip felt a surge of well-being, strength
and gaiety. He banged the table in tune with the skolion, singing loudly, "I'm
married, married, married to Eurydike!" The white poodle pawed at his leg; he
picked it up and put it on the table, where it ran about, scattering cups,
fruit and flowers, till someone hurled it off, when it fled yelping. Everyone
laughed; some men far gone in drink bawled ancient encouragements to
first-night prowess. Philip gazed at them with blurred eyes, in which lurked
a dim anxiety and suspicion. His purple robe felt too hot, in the stew of
torch-warmed humanity. He heaved at it, trying to take it off. Perdikkas saw
that it was high time. He called for a torch, and gave the signal to conduct
the bridegroom. Eurydike lay in the great perfumed bed, in her night-robe of
fine mussel-silk, the brideswomen gathered round her. They talked among
themselves; at first they had dutifully attended her, but none of them knew
her, and the wait for the men was always tedious; the more since coy jokes
were barred. Mostly the floor was held by Roxane, who described the far more
splendid ceremonies of Alexander's day, and patronized Kleopatra. Solitary in
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the little crowd, with its warm smell of female flesh, of the herbs and
cedar-wood of clothes-chests, essence of orange and of rose, Eurydike heard
the rising sounds of the men's revelry. It was warm, but her feet felt icy
cold in the linen sheets. They had slept in wool at home. The room was huge,
it had been King Kroisos' bedchamber; the walls were patterned in colored
marbles, and the floor was porphyry. A Persian lamp-cluster of gilt lotuses
hung over the bed, bathing her in light; would anyone put it out? She had an
overpowering memory of Philip's physical presence, his strong stocky limbs,
his rather sweetish smell. The little she had eaten lay in her like lead.
Supposing she was sick on the bed. If her mother were only here! The full
sense of her loss came home to her; she felt, terrified, a surge of
approaching tears. But if Kynna were here, she would be ashamed to see her cry
in the presence of an enemy. She pulled in her stomach muscles, and forced
back the first sob in silence. Behind the matrons the bridesmaids clustered
whispering. Their song sung, their small rite done of turning back the
bride-bed and sprinkling it with perfume, they had nothing to do. Among a
little set of sisters and cousins and friends, the tittering began; dying away
if one of the great ladies looked round, rustling like a faint breeze in
leaves. Eurydike heard it; she too had nothing to do. Then suddenly she knew
that the sounds from the hall had altered. Supper-couches scraped along the
floor, the slurred singing stopped. They were getting up. Like a tense
soldier released by the call to onset, she summoned up her courage. Soon all
these people must go, and leave her alone to deal with him. She would talk to
him, tell him stories. Old Konon had said he would not trouble her. Roxane
too had heard the sounds. She turned, clashing her intricate ruby earrings.
"Joy to the bride!" she said. Surrounded and pushed on by laughing, drunken,
torch-bearing men, stumbling over his robe on the shallow stately stairs with
their painted murals, Philip made his way towards the royal bedchamber. His
head swam, he sweated in his purple robe; he was angry about the dog being
chased away. He was angry with Perdikkas for fetching him from the table, and
with all the men for mocking him, as he knew they were; they had stopped even
pretending. They were laughing at him because they knew he was scared. He had
heard the jokes in the hall; there was something he was expected to do with
Eurydike, so bad that one must not do it even by oneself, if anyone could see.
He had been beaten long ago for being seen. Now, he believed-no one had
thought to tell him otherwise- they would all stand and watch him. He didn't
know how, and was sure Cousin Eurydike would not like it. Perdikkas was
holding him by the arm, or he would have run away. He said, despairingly,
"It's my bedtime. I want to go to bed." "We'll put you to bed," they
chorused. "That’s why we're here." They roared with laughter. It was like the
bad old days at home, before Alexander had taken him away. "Be quiet."
Perdikkas' voice, suddenly unfestal, an angry martinet's, sobered everyone
down. They led Philip to an anteroom, and started to undress him. He let them
take off the hot purple robe; but when they undid the girdle of his
sweat-soaked tunic, he fought them, and knocked two flying. The rest all
laughed; but Perdikkas, looming and awful, commanded him to remember he was
King. So he let them strip him, and put him into a long white robe with a
gold-embroidered hem. They let him use the chamberpot (where was Konon?); then
there was no more to stay for. They led him to the door. He could hear inside
a murmur of women's voices. They would be watching, too! The wide doors
opened. There was Eurydike, sitting up in the great bed. A little brown
slave-girl, laughing, ran before him with a long snuffer, ready to quench the
hanging lamps. A great wave of anger and misery and fear built up in him. It
hummed and boomed in his head, booom, booom, booom. He remembered, he knew
that soon the white flash would come. Oh, where was Konon? He shouted, "The
light! The light!" and it flashed, a lightning that struck all through
him. Konon, who had been standing in shadow along the passage, ran in.
Without apology he shoved aside the horrified group, shocked sober, which bent
over the rigid figure on the floor; pulled from his belt-pouch a wooden wedge;
prised Philip's jaws apart, so that his tongue should not fall back and choke
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him. For a moment, he looked up at the men with bitter reproach and anger;
then his face settled back into the blank mask of the soldier confronted with
stupid officers. He said to Perdikkas, "Sir, I can see to him. I know what to
do. If the ladies could leave, sir." Disgusted and ashamed, the men stood
aside to let the women go first. In panic disregard for precedence, the
bridesmaids ran at once, their slippers pattering on the stairs. The matrons
of middle rank, obsessed all day with etiquette and protocol, clustered
helplessly, waiting for the queens. Eurydike sat in the bed, grasping around
her the crimson gold-fringed coverlet, looking for help. She had on only her
thin wedding shift; how could she get up in the presence of men; of Konon, who
was staying? Her clothes were on an ivory stool, at the far end of this great
room. Would none of them remember her, stand to shield her, put something
round her? She heard a sound from the floor. Philip, stiff as a board till
now, had begun to twitch. In a moment he was in the throes of the clonic
spasm, his whole frame jerking and thrashing, his robe flung up by his kicking
legs. "Joy to the bride!" It was Roxane, looking down over her shoulder as
she swept towards the door. "Come, ladies." Kleopatra gathered in a glance
the huddled matrons, averting her face from scandal. Making for the door she
paused, and turned back to the bed. Eurydike saw the long look of contempt,
the unwilling pity. "Will you come? We will find you something to wear." Her
eye moved to the clothes-stool; an officious matron bustled over. Eurydike
looked after the widow of Alexander, whose gold embroideries gleamed beyond
the door; she looked up at Alexander's sister, to whom she was like a beaten
whore, whose shame must be covered for the house's honor. She thought, What do
I know even of him, except that he killed my father? May the gods curse them
all. If I die for it, I will make them kneel at my feet. The matron brought
her himation of dyed saffron, the lucky color of fertility and joy. She took
it in silence, and wrapped it round her as she rose. Philip's tremor was
growing weaker; Konon was holding his head, to keep it from striking the
floor. Standing between him and the watching faces, she said, "No, lady, I
will not come. The King is sick, and my place is with my husband. Please leave
us and go away." She fetched a pillow from the bed, and laid Philip's head on
it. He was hers now, they were both victims together. He had made her a queen,
and she would be a king for both of them. Meantime, he must be put into bed
and covered warmly. Konon would find her a place to sleep. 321 B.C. south
down the ancient coast road that followed the eastern shore of the Middle Sea,
the army of Perdikkas marched with its long following train: grooms and
chandlers, smiths and carpenters and harness-makers, the elephants, the
endless wagons, the soldiers' women, the slaves. At Sidon, at Tyre, at Gaza,
the people looked down from the mended walls. It was eleven years since
Alexander had passed that way alive, whom they had just seen on his last
progress, going to Egypt with a chime of bells. This army was no business of
theirs; but it meant a war, and a war has a way of spreading. Flanked by its
guard of armed Bactrian and Persian eunuchs, Roxane's wagon followed the
march, as it had followed from Bactria to India, to Drangiana, to Susa, to
Persepolis, to Babylon. Each part had been many times renewed as its journeys
lengthened, but it seemed the same, smelling as before of the stamped dyed
leather that roofed it, of the essences which at each new city her eunuchs had
brought her for approval; even now, a drift of scent on a cushion could bring
back the heat of Taxila. Here were the heavy turquoise-studded bowls and
trinkets of her dowry, the vessels of chased gold from Susa, a censer from
Babylon. It might all have been the same, except for the child. He was nearly
two, and seen to be small for his age; but, as she said, his father must have
been so. Otherwise, it was clearly her looks he favored; the soft dark hair,
the bright dark eyes. He was lively, and seldom ill; curious and exploring; a
terror to his nurses who must watch his safety at peril of their lives. Though
he must be protected, she did not like him thwarted; he must learn from the
beginning that he was a king. Perdikkas called on her every few days; he was
the King's guardian, as he reminded her whenever they fell out, which happened
often. He was offended that the child shrank from him; it came, he said, of
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never seeing any other man. "His father, you should remember, was not reared
among eunuchs." "Among my people they leave the harem at five, and still make
warriors." "However, he beat them. That is why you are here." "How dare
you," she cried, "call me a captive of the spear! You who were our wedding
guest! Oh, if he were here!" "You may well wish that," Perdikkas said, and
left to visit his other ward. When the army made camp, Philip had his tent
just as before. Eurydike, as became a lady of rank, had her wagon; and in this
she slept. It lacked Roxane's splendors; but, as she had not seen them, she
found it comfortable, and even handsome when her dowry things were set out. It
had a roomy locker; and in this, disguised in a roll of blankets, at the hour
of departure she had concealed her arms. Philip was quite happy with these
arrangements. He would have been gravely disconcerted by her presence in his
tent at night; she might even have wanted Konon to go. In the daytime he was
delighted to have her company; would often ride beside her wagon, and point
out the sights they passed. He had traversed this whole route in the train of
Alexander, and from time to time something would jog an inconsequent flash of
memory. He had been encamped for months before the huge walls of Tyre. In the
evening, she dined with him in his tent. She hated at first to watch him eat,
but with instruction he improved a little. Sometimes at sunset, if the camp
was near the shore, she would walk with him, guarded by Konon, helping him to
look for stones and shells; and then she talked to him, telling the legends of
the royal house of Macedon she had heard from Kynna, right back to the boy who
took the sunbeam for his wages. "You and I," she said, "will be King and Queen
there soon." A dim anxiety stirred in his eyes. "But Alexander told
me..." "That was because he was King himself. All that is over. You are the
King. You must listen to me, now that we are married. I will tell you what we
can do." They had passed the Sinai, and in the lands of Egypt made camp by
the flat green coast. A few miles ahead was the ancient port of Pelusion;
beyond that, the spread-fingered Delta of the Nile, webbed with its intricate
veins of canal and stream. Beyond the Nile was Alexandria. Among the
date-palms and little black irrigation canals and clumps of tall papyrus, the
army spread itself restlessly. The warm dry wind from the southern sand was
just beginning; the Nile was low, the crops stood deep in the rich silt, the
patient oxen toiled at the wooden water-wheels. By the elephant-lines, the
mahouts stripped off their dhotis to wash their children in the canal, gaily
splashing them as they showered themselves with their trunks after the hot
trudge across Sinai. The camels, drinking prodigiously, refilled their secret
storage tanks: the soldiers' women washed their clothes and their children.
The sutlers went out to find supplies. The soldiers prepared for
war. Perdikkas and his staff scanned the terrain. He had been here with
Alexander; but that was eleven years back, and for the last two, Ptolemy had
been making himself at home. The land's long vistas showed where, at vital
points of access, where a mound or a rocky outcrop offered foundation, stout
forts of brick or timber had appeared. He could get no further coastwise;
Pelusion was well defended by the salt-march between. He must strike south,
below the meshes of the Delta. The main camp must stay here. He would take a
mobile force, light and unencumbered. Alexander had taught him that. He rode
back to his tent in the quick-falling dusk which the breath of the desert
reddened, to make his plans. Through the wide straggling camp, the cook-fires
budded and bloomed; little fires of the women, big ones-for the nights were
cold still-where twenty or thirty men would share their bean-soup and
porridge, their bread and olives, with a relish of dates and cheese, washed
down with rough wine. It was in the hour between food and sleep, when men
talked idly, told tales or sang, that the voices began to sound around the
camp, just beyond the reach of the firelight. They called softly, speaking
good Macedonian; uttering familiar names, recalling old battles under
Alexander, old fallen friends, old jokes. First un-rebuffed, then hesitantly
welcomed, the speaker would come up to the fire. Just a jar together for old
times' sake, seeing he'd brought one. Tomorrow, who could say, they might have
to kill each other, but meantime, good health and no hard feelings. As for
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himself, he could only speak as he'd found; now Alexander was gone. Ptolemy
was next best. He was a soldier and no one's fool; but he looked after you, he
had time for your troubles, and where else would you find that today? What
wage, by the way, was Perdikkas paying veterans? What? (A shake of the head, a
long contemptuous whistle.) "He promised you loot, I suppose? Oh, yes it's
there; but not so you'll ever get to it. This country's murder to those who
don't know the waterways. Look out for the crocodiles; they're bigger than in
India, and cunning." To a growing audience, he would go on to the comforts
and pleasures of Alexandria, the shipping from everywhere, the good fresh
food, the wineshops and the girls, the good air all the year round; and
Alexander to bring the city luck. The wine-jar emptied, his mission done, the
visitor would slip away, his footfalls merging into the uncanny noises of the
Egyptian night. As he threaded his way back to his fort, he would reflect
comfortably that he'd not given them a word of a lie, and doing old friends, a
kindness was a very good way of earning a hundred drachmas. Perdikkas made
his last camp a little above the wrist of the Nile, from which the fingers of
the Delta spread northwards. The noncombatants he had brought thus far would
await him; among them the Kings, whom he wanted under his eye. From here he
would make his march towards the river. They watched him and his soldiers go
into the shimmer of morning mist, horse and foot, the pack-mules with the
rations, the camel-train with the parts for the catapults, the elephants
plodding after. For a long time they grew smaller in the flat distance,
vanishing at last into a low horizon of tamarisk and palm. Pacing the royal
tent, Eurydike waited restlessly for news. Konon had found an escort, and
taken Philip riding. She too had liked to ride, free on the hills of Macedon,
sitting astride; but she had to remember, now, what would be acceptable in a
queen. Perdikkas had told her so. Now that for the first time she was with an
army in the field, all her training and her nature rebelled at being laid
aside with slaves and women. Her marriage she had felt as a grotesque
necessity, something to be managed, altering nothing of herself; even more,
now, she felt women an alien species, imposing no laws upon her. Over by her
wagon, her two maids sat in its shade, chattering softly in Lydian. Both were
slaves. She had been offered ladies-in-waiting, but had refused, telling
Perdikkas she would not ask softly nurtured women to endure the hardships of
the march. The truth was that she would not endure the tedium of female talk.
To sex she was indifferent; in this respect she needed women even less than
men. Her wedding night had killed the last of that. In adolescent dreams she
had fought, like Hippolyta, at a hero's side. Since then she had become
ambitious, and her dreams were otherwise. By the third morning she was
impatient even of ambition, which had no outlet. The day stretched before her,
empty and flat as the land. Why should she endure it? She remembered the
locker in the wagon which contained her arms. Her man's tunic was there as
well. She was the Queen: Perdikkas should have sent reports to her. If no one
would bring her news, she would go and see. All she knew of the expedition
she had heard from Konon, who had many friends in the camp. Perdikkas, he had
said, had started out without telling anyone his objective, neither the camp
commandant nor the senior officers who were going with him. He had heard there
had been spies about the camp. The officers had not liked it; Seleukos, who
commanded the elephants, liked to know how they would be used. Konon kept to
himself much more than he had told; they were saying in camp that Perdikkas
was far higher-handed these days than Alexander ever was; Alexander had known
how to talk you round. He had confided, however, to Eurydike that with the
stores and remounts they'd taken, he reckoned they would not be marching above
thirty miles. And that was the distance to the Nile. Eurydike changed into
her tunic, clasped on her tooled-hide corselet, laced down the
shoulder-pieces, put on riding-boots and greaves. Her breasts were small and
the corselet hid their curve. Her helmet was a simple, unplumed Illyrian
war-cap; her grandmother, Audata, had worn it on the border. The drowsy
servants never saw her go. Down at the horse-lines the grooms took her for one
of the royal squires, and at her imperious order led a sound horse out. Even
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after three days, the spoor of the troops was plain: the plowed-up grass, the
bared dust, the horse and camel droppings, the trampled banks of the
irrigation canals, the leaked water caking in the little fields. The peasants
laboring to mend the dikes looked up with sullen hatred of all destructive
soldiers. She was only a few miles out when she met the messenger. He was
riding a camel; a dusty, drawn-faced man, who stared at her angrily for not
making way for him. But he was a soldier; so she wheeled round and overtook
him. Her horse shied from the camel; she called, "What news? Has there been a
battle?" He leaned over to spit; but his mouth was dry, and only the sound
came out. "Get out of my way, boy, I've no time for you. I've despatches for
the camp. They must get ready to take the wounded... what are left of them."
He switched his mount; it bobbed its scornful head and left her in its
dust. An hour or two later, she met the wagons. As they came nearer, she
guessed their freight from the groaning, from the water-carriers on their
donkeys, and the doctor leaning under one of the awnings. She rode down the
line, hearing the humming flies, a curse or a cry when a wagon jolted. The
fourth of them had men talking and looking out; men with disabled limbs, not
too weak to be alert. She saw inside a familiar face; it was the veteran who
had first taken her part on the Sardis road, when her mother died. "Thaulos!"
she called, riding up to the tailboard. "I am sorry to see you hurt." She was
hailed with amazement and delight. Queen Eurydike! And they had taken her for
some young blood in cavalry! What was she doing here? Had she meant to lead
them into battle? A daughter of the house-her granddad would have been proud
of her. Ah well, lucky she had been too late for yesterday's work. It did one
good to see her. She did not understand that it was her youth they found
endearing; that had she been thirty instead of fifteen they would have made a
barrack-room joke of her for a mannish termagant. She looked like a charming
boy without having lost her girlishness; she was their friend and ally. As she
walked her horse beside the cart, they poured out their discontents to
her. Perdikkas had marched them to a place on the Nile called Camelford. But
of course the ford was guarded by a fort across the stream, with a palisade, a
scarp and the wall of the fort on top. Perdikkas' scouts had reported it
lightly manned. A younger veteran said resentfully, "But what he forgot was
that Ptolemy learned his trade from Alexander." "Perdikkas hates him," said
another, "so he underrates him. You can't afford that in war. Alexander knew
better." "That's it; of course the fort was undermanned. Ptolemy was keeping
mobile, till he knew where the stroke would be. Once he did know, he came like
the wind; I doubt Alexander would have been much quicker. By the time we were
half across, he was in the fort with a regiment." "And another thing I'll
tell you," Thaulos said. "He didn't want to shed Macedonian blood. He could
have lain low, and fallen on us as we crossed; for he'd come up out of sight.
But up he stood on the walls, with a herald, and his men all shouting, trying
to scare us back. He's a gentleman, Ptolemy. Alexander thought the world of
him." With a grunt of pain, he eased himself over on the straw to favor his
wounded leg. She asked if he needed water; but they were all in need of talk.
The desperately wounded were in other carts. Perdikkas, they said, had made a
speech calling upon their loyalty. It was he who was guardian of the Kings,
who had his appointment direct from Alexander. This they could not deny;
moreover he was paying them, and their pay was not in
arrears. Scaling-ladders had been carried by the elephants; and it was they,
too, who had torn down the palisades on the riverbank, as their mahouts
directed them, plucking out the stakes like the saplings whose leaves they fed
on, their thick hides making little of javelins from above. But the defenders
had been well trained; the glacis was steep; the men dislodged from the
ladders had rolled down the broken palisade into the river, where the weight
of their armor drowned them. It was then that Perdikkas had ordered the
elephants to assault the walls. "Seleukos didn't like it. He said they'd done
their stint. He said there was no sense in a beast carrying two men up where
they'd be level with a dozen, and exposing its head as well. But he was told
pretty sharply who was in command. And he didn't like that either." The
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elephants were ordered to give their war-cry. "But it didn't scare Ptolemy. We
could see him up on the wall with a long sarissa, poking back our men as they
came up. An elephant can scare any man down on the ground; but not when he's
on a wall above it." The elephants had labored up the scarp, digging their
heavy feet into the earth, till Old Pluto, the one the others followed,
started to pull at the wall-timbers. Old Pluto could shift a battering-ram.
But Ptolemy stood his ground, threw off the missiles with his shield, reached
out his long spear and got Old Pluto's eyes. The next elephant up, someone
picked off the mahout. So there were those two great beasts, one blind and the
other unguided, pounding and blundering down the scarp, trampling anyone in
their way. "And that," said one man, "is how I got a broken foot. Not from
the enemy. And if I never walk straight again, it's not Ptolemy I'll blame for
it." There was a growl of anger from every man in the cart. They had seen
little more of the action, having been wounded about this time; they thought
it had gone on all day. She rode by them a little longer, offering sympathy,
then asked them the way to Camelford. They urged her to take care, to do
nothing rash, they could not spare their Queen. As she rode on, a dark moving
bulk appeared in the middle distance, coming slowly from a palm-grove that
fringed a pool. As it drew near, she saw two elephants in single file, the
smaller going first, the bigger one holding it by the tail. Old Pluto was
going home, led as he had been by his mother forty years ago in his native
jungle, to keep him safe from tigers. His mahout sat weeping on his neck; his
wounded eyes, dropping bloody serum, seemed to be weeping too. Eurydike noted
him, as proof of Ptolemy's prowess. At home her chief diversion had been the
hunt; she took for granted that animals were put into the world for men to
use. Questioning the other mahout, who seemed to have his wits about him, she
learned that Perdikkas had abandoned the assault at evening, and marched after
dark, the man did not know where. Clearly, if she rode on she risked falling
among the enemy; so she turned back to the camp. No one had missed her but
old Konon, who recognized her as she came back; but, as she warned him with
her eyes, it was not his place to rebuke her. He would not dare give her away.
For the rest, Philip's wedding had been a nine days' wonder, and just now they
had other concerns. It was she herself who began, dimly and gropingly, to see
her way ahead. The army of Perdikkas, what was left of it, came back next
day. Stragglers came first, unofficered, undisciplined, unkempt. Clothes,
armor and skin were plastered with dried Nile mud; they were black men, but
for their light angry eyes. They went about the camp, seeking water to drink
and clean themselves, spreading each his tale of confusion and disaster. The
main force followed, a sullen, scowling mass, led by Perdikkas with a face of
stone, its tight-lipped officers keeping their thoughts to themselves. Her
female dress and seclusion resumed, she sent out Konon to learn the
news. While he was gone, she became aware that round the small circle of the
royal quarters a ring of men was gathering. They settled down in groups, not
talking much, but with the air of men agreed upon their business. Puzzled and
disturbed, she looked for the sentries who should have been somewhere near;
but they had joined the silent watchers. Some instinct dispelled her fear.
She went to the entry of the royal tent, and let herself be seen. Arms went up
in salute; it was all quiet, it had an air of reassurance, almost of
complicity. "Philip," she said, "stand in the opening there, and let those
men see you. Smile at them and greet them as Perdikkas taught you. Show me;
yes, like that. Say nothing, just salute them." He came in, pleased, to say,
"They waved to me." "They said, 'Long live Philip.' Remember, when people say
that, you must always smile." "Yes, Eurydike." He went to lay out with his
shells some beads of red glass she had bought him from a peddler. A shadow
darkened the tent-mouth. Konon paused for leave to enter. When she saw his
face, her eyes moved to the corner, where they kept Philip's ceremonial spear.
She said, "Is the enemy coming?" "Enemy?" He made it sound like an
irrelevance. "No, madam... Don't be in a worry about the lads out there.
They've taken it on themselves, just in case of trouble. I know them
all." "Trouble? What trouble?" She saw his old soldier's stone-wall face. "I
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can't say, madam. They say one thing and another in the camp. They were cut up
badly, trying to cross the Nile." 'I've seen the Nile." Philip looked up.
"When Alexander..." "Be quiet and listen. Yes, Konon. Go on." Perdikkas, it
seemed, had given his men a few hours' rest after the assault upon the fort.
Then he had ordered them to strike camp and be ready for a night
march. "Konon," said Philip suddenly, "why are all those men
shouting?" Konon too had heard; his narrative had been flagging. "They're
angry, sir. But not with you or the Queen. Don't fret about it, they won't
come here." He took up his tale again. Perdikkas' men had fought through the
heat of the day and on till evening. They were discouraged and dog-tired; but
he had promised them an easy crossing, further south at Memphis, down the east
bank of the river. "Memphis," said Philip brightening. Long ago, from a
window, he had watched the tremendous pageant of Alexander's enthronement as
Pharaoh, Son of Ra. He had seemed to be made all of gold. Konon was saying,
"Alexander, now; he knew how to make a man throw his heart into it." Outside,
the voices of the encircling soldiers rose a tone or two, as if receiving
news. The sound sank again. In the dark before dawn, Konon went on, they had
come to the crossing-place. Here the river was split by a mile-long island,
breaking its force, and the forks were shallower. They were to cross in two
stages, assembling on the island in between. "But it was deeper than he'd
thought. Half over from this side, they were chest-deep. With the current
pulling at their shields, some of them keeled over; the rest had all they
could do to keep their feet. So then Perdikkas remembered how Alexander
crossed the Tigris." He paused, to see if she knew about this famous exploit.
But she had encouraged no one to talk about Alexander. "It's a fast stream,
the Tigris. Before he sent the infantry across, he stood two columns of
cavalry in the river, upstream and down of them. Upstream to break the
current, downstream to catch any man carried away. He was the first man in on
foot, feeling out the shoals with his spear." "Yes," said Eurydike coolly.
"But what did Perdikkas do?" "What he did was to use the elephants." 'They
didn't get drowned?" said Philip anxiously. "No, sir. It was the men that
drowned... Where's that idle loafing Sinis? Trust a Karian to go off at a time
like this. A moment, madam." He took a taper to the little clay day-lamp which
kept a source of fire, and kindled the cluster on the big branched lamp-stand.
Outside, a red glow showed that the soldiers were making a cook-fire. Konon's
shadow, made huge by the light behind him, loomed dark and manifold on the
worn linen hangings of the tent. "He put the elephants upstream, in line
across, and the cavalry downstream; then he told the phalanx to advance. They
went in, the phalanx leaders each with his men. And when they got to the
middle, it was as if the Nile had come up in flood. It was over their heads;
the horses downstream had to swim for it. It was the weight of the elephants
did it; it stirred up the muddy bottom, which the Tigris didn't have. But the
worst of all, they all say, was to see their mates being taken by
crocodiles." "I've seen a crocodile," said Philip eagerly. "Yes, sir, I
know... Well, before it deepened too much, a good few men had scrambled up on
the island. Perdikkas saw there was no going ahead; so he hailed them, and
ordered them to come back." "Come back?" said Eurydike. She listened with new
ears to the sounds outside; the muttering that rose and fell, a long keening
from the bivouacs of the soldiers' women. "He ordered them back?" "It was
that or leave them there. It meant throwing away their arms, which no
Macedonian did as long as Alexander led them, and they don't forget it. Some
of them shouted out they'd as soon take their chance in the west channel, and
give themselves up to Ptolemy. No one knows what became of them. The rest went
back in the water, which was deeper than ever, full of blood and crocodiles. A
few got out. I've talked with them. One of them left his hand in a crocodile's
mouth. The rest of his arm's in ribbons, he'll never live... They lost two
thousand men." She thought of the groaning hospital carts, a mere drop now in
the ocean of disaster. A sweeping impulse, compounded of anger, pity,
contempt, and ambition grasping at opportunity, lifted her out of herself. She
turned to Philip. "Listen to me." He waited, attentive; recognizing as a dog
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would do the note of imperative command. "We are going out to see the
soldiers. They have been treated badly, but they know we are their friends.
This time, you must speak to them. First return their salute; then say-now,
listen very carefully-'Men of Macedon. My brother's spirit would grieve to see
this day.' Don't say anything more, even if they answer you. I will talk to
them then." He repeated it after her; they went out into the falling dark,
lit from behind by the lamps inside the tent, and from before by the soldiers'
fire. An instant cheer greeted them; the word ran round, men ran up crowding
to hear. Philip did not falter; she had not charged him with more than he
could retain. She saw him pleased with himself, and, lest he should be tempted
to improvise, turned to him quickly with a show of wifely assent. Then she
spoke. They were all ears. The King's sense of their wrongs had amazed and
pleased them; he could not be as slow as people said. A man of few words. No
matter, the Queen would be worth hearing. Roxane, near by in her wagon, had
supposed the troop to have been posted for her own protection. Her eunuchs had
told her there was trouble in the camp; but their Greek was poor, and no
soldier had had time for them. Now with bewildered anger she heard the young
ringing voice crying out against the waste of the gallant dead; promising that
when the time came for the King himself to rule them, he would see to it that
good men's lives were not thrown away. Roxane heard the cheers. All her five
years of marriage had been told with cheers; shouts of acclamation, the
rhythmic roar as the victory parade went by. This sound was different;
starting with indulgent affection, but ending with a chorus of revolt. There,
thought Roxane, was an unsexed virago! That bastard and fool the husband
should never share her child's throne. Just then the child, who had been on
edge all day, bumped into something and began to cry. Eurydike, the cheering
over, heard the sound, and said to herself that the barbarian's brat should
never reign in Macedon. Perdikkas sat in his tent at his trestle table,
stylus in hand, a wax diptych blank before him. He was alone. Before this he
should have called his staff to a war council, to decide on his next move;
but, he thought, he must give them time to cool. Seleukos had answered him in
monosyllables; Peithon had looked foxily under his reddish brows and down his
pointed nose, saying this or that, but none of what he thought; Archias,
though known to be in camp, had not reported at all. Once more he regretted
having sent Alketas north with Eumenes; there was nothing like a kinsman in
treacherous times. Round the double bowl of his tall-stemmed table-lamp,
brittle bronze beetles and papery moths fluttered and fell in a ring of
ephemeral death. Outside the tent, the squires on duty were talking softly
together. It was a breach of discipline, but he was strangely-reluctant to go
out and deal with it. All he could hear was, now and then, a name. Through the
slit of his tent-flap, like a fiery crack, shone the flame of the fire at
which the rest were sitting. He had not-yet-the royal right to choose fresh
boys from the noble houses of Macedon. One or two had died of fever, or fallen
in war; the rest were all here still, his inheritance from the death-chamber
in Babylon. He had not had much time for them lately, just taken for granted
that they would be there at call. They had been with him at the Nile, ready
with spare horses, waiting till he was ready to cross. The soft voices
buzzed, a little nearer now, or a little less careful. "Alexander always used
to..." "Alexander would no more have..." "Never! Remember how he..." The
voices sank; voices not of protest but of intimate, private judgment. He got
to his feet, then sat down again, staring at the tiny holocaust around the
lamp. Well, he trusted me with his ring; do they forget that? But as if he had
spoken aloud, he seemed to hear a murmur: "But Krateros was in Syria. And
Hephaistion was dead." Seeking warmth and comfort, his memory groped back to
the days of youth and glory; further yet, to the moment of exultation when,
the blood of Philip's assassin red on his sword, he had first looked into
those searching intent grey eyes. "Well done, Perdikkas." (He knew my name!)
"When my father has had his rites you will hear from me." The long pageant of
the short-years unrolled. He rode in triumph through Persepolis. There was a
break in the sounds outside. The squires had fallen silent. New voices now;
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older, terser, more purposeful. "You may dismiss." A single, uncertain "Sir?"
Then, a little louder-Peithon surely-"I said, dismiss. Go to your
quarters." He heard the click of weapons and armor, the fall of departing
feet. Not one had come in, to ask for orders, to give a warning. Two years
ago, they had cheered him for defying Meleager. But then, they had only just
come from the room in Babylon. His tent-flap opened. For a moment he saw the
bright leap of the fire, before the press of men blotted it out. Peithon;
Seleukos; Peukestes with his Persian scimitar. And more behind them. Nobody
spoke; there was no need. He fought while he could, grimly, in silence. He had
his pride; he had been, even though not for long, second to Alexander. His
pride chose for him, when it was too late to think, not to die calling for
help that would not come. From the royal tent, Eurydike heard the rising
confusion of rumor and counter-rumor, contention and savage cheers. Their
protectors grew restless, seeking news. There was a sudden stir; a young man
ran up, helmetless, red and sweating with excitement and the heat of the
fire. "King, lady. Perdikkas is dead." She was silent, more shocked than she
would have supposed. Before she could speak, Philip said with simple
satisfaction, "Good. That's good. Did you kill him?" "No, sir." (Just as if,
she thought subconsciously, a real man had asked.) "It was the generals, as I
understand. They..." He paused. A new sound had pierced the vague fluctuant
din: the roar of a lynch-mob for its prey. Soon it was mingled with the
shrieks of women. For the first time she was afraid. A mindless thing was
abroad, a thing that could not be spoken with. She said, "What is it?" He
frowned and bit his lip. "There's always some will go too far once they begin.
They'll be after Perdikkas' people. Don't be afraid, lady; they won't harm the
kings'." She was startled by the strong voice just beside her. "If they come
here, I'll kill them." Philip had found his ceremonial spear, and was
fiercely grasping it. The ornate blade was pointed. It took her a little time
to coax it from his hands. Ptolemy arrived in the camp next day. He had been
informed of Perdikkas' death as soon as it took place-some said before-and
arrived with a cavalcade which, though impressive, had no appearance of
threat. Relying on his informants, he chose to present himself as a man of
honor trusting in his peers. He was warmly welcomed, even cheered. The
soldiers saw in this intrepid confidence a touch of Alexander. Peithon,
Seleukos and Peukestes met and escorted him. He had brought Arybbas, riding
at his right hand. The bier of Alexander had been installed at Memphis, to
await the completion of his tomb; Perdikkas from across the fatal river might
almost have caught the gleam of its gold crest. Its architect now gave the
generals a friendly salute. After the briefest pause they returned it; things
had to be lived with as they were. Ptolemy's terms had been agreed
beforehand. The first of them was that he should address the army, to answer
Perdikkas' accusation of treason. The generals had little choice. He had
offered a gentleman's undertaking not to incite their own troops against them.
The need for this reassurance spoke, after all, for itself. The engineers,
working at speed, had run up a rostrum. As Alexander had accustomed them to
do, they put it near the royal quarters. Eurydike took it at first for a
scaffold, and asked who was being put to death. They told her that Ptolemy was
to make a speech. Philip, who had been arranging his stones in an elaborate
spiral, looked up alertly. "Is Ptolemy coming? Has he brought me a
present?" "No, he is only coming to talk to the soldiers." "He always brings
me a present." He fondled a memorable lump of yellow crystal from central
Asia. Eurydike was staring at the tall dais, deep in thought. Now Perdikkas
was dead, the only appointed guardian of the Kings was the distant Krateros,
campaigning somewhere in Syria against Eumenes. There was no Regent of Asia,
either. Was this the moment destiny had appointed? "Men of Macedon, I claim
the right to govern in my own name." She could teach him that, and afterwards
speak herself, as she had done last night. Why not? "Philip. Put that away
now." Carefully she gave him his words. He was not to interrupt Ptolemy's
speech; she would tell him when to begin. A ring of soldiers cordoned the
royal quarters. It was only to protect them from the crush of the Assembly;
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but it gave space, one could step out and be heard. She rehearsed her speech
in her head. Ptolemy, flanked by Peithon and Arybbas, mounted the steps to
the rostrum, welcomed with cheers. Eurydike was astounded. She had heard
cheers already that day, but it had never occurred to her that they could be
in honor of the recent enemy. She had heard of Ptolemy-he was, after all, a
kind of left-handed kinsman-but had never seen him. She was young, still, in
the history of Alexander's army. However often told by Perdikkas that he was
a traitor, the troops knew Ptolemy as a well-liked man, and one who led from
the front. From the start, none of them had really wanted to go to war with
him; when they met disasters, there had been no bracing hatred of the enemy to
stiffen their morale. Now they hailed him as a revenant from better days, and
heard him eagerly. He began with an epitaphion for the dead. He mourned as
they did the loss of brave former comrades, against whom it would have grieved
him to lift his spear. Many had been cast up on his side of the river, whom,
had they lived, he would have been proud to enroll under his command. They had
had their due rites and he had brought their ashes. Not a few, he was glad to
say, had reached shore alive. He had brought them back; they were here now at
Assembly. The rescued men led the cheering. All had been freed without
ransom; all had enlisted with Ptolemy. And now, he said, he would speak of
him who,, while he lived, had united all Macedonians in pride, victory and
glory. Moving many to tears, he told them of Alexander's wish to return to the
land of Ammon. (Surely, thought Ptolemy, he would have said so if he could
have spoken at the last.) For doing Alexander right, he had been accused of
treason, though he had never lifted sword against the Kings; and this by a man
who had himself been reaching for the throne. He had come here to submit
himself to the judgment of the Macedonians. Here he stood. What was their
verdict to be? The verdict was unanimous; it verged on the ecstatic. He
waited, without anxiety or unbecoming confidence, till it had spent
itself. He was glad, he said, that the soldiers of Alexander held him in
remembrance. He would subvert no man's loyalty; the army of the Kings could
march north with his goodwill. Meantime, he had heard that through the late
misadventures the camp was short of supplies. Egypt had had a good harvest; it
would be his pleasure to send some victuals in. Rations were indeed
disorganized, stale and scanty; some men had not eaten since yesterday. There
was a furor of acclamation. Seleukos mounted the dais. He proposed to the
Assembly that Ptolemy, whose magnanimity in victory had equaled even
Alexander's, should be appointed Regent in Asia, and guardian of the
Kings. Cries of assent were hearty and unanimous. Hands and hats waved. No
Assembly had ever spoken with a clearer voice. For a moment-all the time he
had-he stood like Homer's Achilles, this way and that dividing the swift mind.
But he had made his choice, and nothing had really happened to change it. As
Regent, he would have had to leave prospering friendly Egypt, where he was as
good as King already; to lead his troops, who liked and trusted him, into a
cutthroat scrimmage where one could trust no one-look at Perdikkas, his body
hardly cold! No. He would keep his own good land, husband it, and leave it to
his sons. Gracefully but firmly, he made his speech of refusal; the satrapy
of Egypt, and the building of Alexandria, were a great enough charge for such
a man as himself. But since he had been honored with their vote, he would take
it on himself to name two former friends of Alexander to share the office of
guardian. He gestured to Peithon and Arybbas. In the royal tent, Eurydike
heard it all. Macedonian generals learned how to make their voices carry, and
Ptolemy's soundbox was resonant. She heard him end his speech with some
homespun army anecdote, mysterious to her, delightful to the soldiers. With a
sense of hopeless defeat she observed his height, his presence, his air of
relaxed authority; an ugly, impressive man, talking to men. Philip said, "Does
your face hurt you?" and she found she had covered it with her hands. "Shall I
make my speech now?" he said. He began to step forward. "No," she said.
"Another day you shall make it There are too many strangers here." He went
back happily to play with his toys. She turned to find Konon just behind her.
He must have been standing there quietly for some time. "Thank you, madam," he
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said. "I think it's better." Later that day, an aide announced that Ptolemy
would shortly pay his respects to the King. He arrived soon after, saluted
Eurydike briskly, and clapped Philip's shoulders in a fraternal embrace, to
his beaming pleasure. It was almost as good as Alexander coming. "Have you
brought me a present?" he asked. His face scarcely flickering, Ptolemy said
heartily, "Of course I have. Not here; I had to talk to all these soldiers.
You'll get it tomorrow... Why, Konon! It's a long time, eh? But I see you take
good care of him; he looks as fit as a warhorse. Alexander used to say, 'That
was a good posting.' " Konon saluted with glistening eyes; no one since
Alexander had commended him. Ptolemy turned to go, before remembering his
manners. "Cousin Eurydike, I hope that all goes well with you. Philip's been
fortunate, I see." He paused, and took a long second look at her. In a
pleasant, but different voice, he added, "A sensible wife like you will keep
him out of mischief. He's had enough in his life of people trying to use him.
Even his father, if Alexander hadn't... well, never mind. Now Alexander's
gone, he needs someone to watch out for him. Well-health and prosperity,
cousin. Farewell." He was gone, leaving her to ask herself what had possessed
her, a queen, to bow to a mere governor. He had meant to warn, not praise her.
Another of Alexander's arrogant kindred. At least she would never see him
again. Roxane received him with more formality. She still took him for her
son's new guardian, and offered the sweetmeats kept for important guests,
warning him against the intrigues of the Macedonian vixen. He disillusioned
her, praising Peithon and Arybbas. Where, he wondered as he nibbled his
candied apricot, would she be today if Alexander were alive? Once Stateira had
borne a boy, would he have put up with the Bactrian's tantrums? The child was
clambering over him, clutching his clean robe with sticky hands. He had
grabbed at the sweets, thrown down his first choice on the rug, and helped
himself to more, with only the fondest of maternal chiding. None the less,
Ptolemy took him on his knee, to see Alexander's son who bore his name. His
dark eyes were bright and quick; he knew better than his mother did that he
was being appraised, and put on a little performance, bouncing and singing.
His father was always a showman, thought Ptolemy; but he had a good deal to
show. What will this one have? He said, "I saw his father when he was as
young as this." "He takes after both our houses," said Roxane proudly. "No,
Alexander, don't offer a guest a sweet after you have bitten it... He means it
for a compliment, you know." He tried another, this time throwing it
down. Ptolemy lifted him firmly down and set him on his feet. He resented it
(That's his father, Ptolemy thought) and started to howl (And that's his
mother). It dismayed rather than surprised him to see Roxane picking him out
his favorites from the dish, and feeding him in her lap. "Ah, he will have his
way. Such a little king as he is already." Ptolemy got to his feet and looked
down at the child; who looked up, from the cosseting lap, with a strange
uneasy gravity, pushing his mother's hands away. "Yes," he said. "He is the
son of Alexander. Do not forget that his father could rule men because he had
first learned to rule himself." Roxane caught the child to her breast and
stared at him resentfully. He bowed and saw himself out. At the entrance of
the tent with its precious rugs and gem-studded hanging lamps, he turned to
see the boy gazing after him with wide dark eyes. In the palace of Sardis,
seated in the same room where she had entertained Perdikkas, Kleopatra
confronted Antipatros, the Regent of Macedon. Perdikkas' death had shocked
her to her roots. She had not loved him; but she had committed her life to
him, and founded on him her future. Now she looked into a void. She was still
trying to come to terms with her desolation when Antipatros arrived from his
campaign in Kilikia. She had known him all her life. He had been fifty when
she was born. Except that his hair and beard and brows had turned from grizzle
to white, he seemed unchanged, and as formidable as ever. He sat in the chair
Perdikkas had often used, spear-straight, fixing her with a faded but fierce
blue eye of inflexible authority. It was his fault, she said to herself, that
Olympias had come from Macedon to Dodona to make her life intolerable. It was
his fault she was here. But the habit of youth still held; he was the Regent.
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It was she who felt in his presence like a child who has wickedly broken
something old and precious, and awaits a well-earned chastisement. He had not
rebuked her; simply addressed her as someone whose deep disgrace could be
taken for granted. What was there to say? It was she who had set the landslide
moving. Through her, Perdikkas had rejected the Regent's daughter, after
marrying her for policy; he planned to usurp his power, loyally wielded
through two kings' reigns. She sat silent, twisting a ring on her finger,
Perdikkas' betrothal gift. After all, she thought, trying to summon up
defiance, he is not the rightful Regent. Alexander said he was too oppressive,
Perdikkas told me so. By rights, Krateros should be Regent now. Antipatros
said in his slow harsh voice, "Did they tell you that Krateros is
dead?" "Krateros?" She stared, almost too dulled to feel it. "No, I had not
heard." Handsome commanding Krateros, the soldiers' idol next to Alexander;
never Persianized, Macedonian dyed in grain. She had adored him at twelve
years old when he was one of her father's squires; she had treasured a strand
of horsehair left in a tree by his helmet crest. "Who killed him?" "It would
be hard to say." He stared back under his white thatched brows. "Perhaps he
might think that you did. As you know, Perdikkas sent Eumenes north to hold
the straits against us. He was too late for that; we crossed, and divided our
forces, and it was he who met with Eumenes. The Greek is clever. He guessed
that if his own Macedonians knew whom they were to fight, they would mutiny
and go over; so he kept it from them. When the cavalry met, Krateros' horse
went down. His helmet was closed, he was not recognized; the horses trampled
him. When it was over they found him dying. I am told that even Eumenes
wept." She was past tears. Hopelessness and humiliation and grief lay on her
like black stones. It was grey winter with her; in silence she bore the
cold. He said drily, "Perdikkas was unfortunate." Was it possible, she
thought, that there was more to come? He sat there like a judge counting the
hangman's lashes. "Eumenes' victory was complete. He sent a courier south to
Egypt, to tell Perdikkas. If he had heard in time, he might have persuaded his
men that his cause was still worth following. When it reached the camp he was
dead." What did we do, she thought, to make the gods so angry? But she knew
the annals of the throne of Macedon. She had the answer: We failed. "And so,"
Antipatros was saying, "all Eumenes got for his trouble-and he is wounded too,
I hear-was to be condemned in his absence, for treason and for the death of
Krateros. Perdikkas' army condemned him in Assembly... also, when they
mutinied, a mob of them murdered Atalante, Perdikkas' sister. Perhaps you knew
her." She had sat in this room, tall and dark like her brother; rather grave,
because of his other marriage, but civilly planning for the wedding; a woman
with dignity. For a moment Kleopatra shut her eyes. Then she straightened. She
was Philip's daughter. "I am sorry for it. But they say, Fate rules all." He
said only, "And now? Will you go back to Epiros?" It was the final stroke,
and he must know it. He knew why she had left her dead husband's land, which
she had governed well. He knew that she had offered herself to Leonnatos and
then Perdikkas, not in ambition but in flight. No one knew more than he about
Olympias. His wronged daughter was in his house in Macedon; and Olympias'
daughter was wholly in his power. If he chose, he could pack her off like a
runaway child, in custody to her mother. Rather than that she would die; or
even beg. "My mother is governing in Epiros till my son succeeds. It is her
country; she is Molossian. There is no place for me in Epiros any more. If you
will grant it me"-the words almost scorched her throat-"I will stay here in
Sardis and live privately. You have my word I shall do nothing more to trouble
you." He kept her waiting, not to punish her but to think. She was still
worth, to any well-born adventurer, what she had been to two dead pretenders.
In Epiros she would be restless and resentful. It would be wisest to have her
killed. He looked, and saw her father in her face. For two reigns he had kept
his oath of loyalty to absent kings; now his pride was invested in his honor.
He could not do it. "These are uncertain times. Sardis has been fought for
time out of mind, and we are still at war. If I do as you ask, I cannot ensure
your safety." "Who is safe in this world?" she said, and smiled. It was her
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smile that for the first tune made him pity her. The army of the Kings had
struck camp in Egypt. Generously victualed and politely seen off by Ptolemy,
it was marching north to its rendezvous with Antipatros. The guardians of the
Kings, appointed after Alexander's death, were now both dead within two years
of it. Their office was held, at present, by Peithon and Arybbas. In the two
royal households, only Roxane had known the fallen Krateros. He had convoyed
her back from India with the noncombatants, while Alexander was shortening his
life in the Gedrosian desert. She had greatly preferred him to Perdikkas, and
looked forward to being in his charge again. She had had a new gown made to
receive him in; her mourning for Krateros had been sincere. The new guardians
were both unpromising. Peithon, fiercely devoted to Alexander, had always
regarded her as a campaign wife who ought to know her place. Arybbas she
suspected of preferring boys. Besides, they had only visited her both
together; a precaution privately agreed between them. To Eurydike, Krateros
had been only a name. She had heard of his death with relief; his fame had
threatened a powerful force; more powerful, she had been quick to sense, than
the present guardians could command. Soon after the mutiny she had felt the
change of air. Morale had altered. These were now men who had successfully
defied their leaders; some were men who had shed blood. They had won; but
their inward certainty was wounded, not strengthened, by their victory. They
had been led disastrously and did not repent rebellion; but a navelcord that
had nourished them had been broken, a common trust. Without it they felt
restless and bereaved. Peithon and Arybbas had not filled up their emptiness.
Peithon they knew by repute, as all the eight Bodyguards were known; but few,
as it happened, had ever served with him. His quality was untested, and in the
meantime they found him uninspiring. As for Arybbas, his record under
Alexander had been undistinguished except in the field of art, which did not
interest them. If either one had given signs of hidden fire, the army would
have been his own; it was like a pack of powerful dogs missing a master's
voice. But on both alike their office sat uneasily; both alike were anxious to
avoid all occasion for disorder, all look of rivalry or of forming factions.
Both went about their duties with sober competence. Thus the drama dragged,
the action sagged; the audience fidgeted, coughed and yawned, began fingering
its apple-cores and half-bitten onions and crusts, but was not quite ready yet
to throw them at the actors. The play was a gift to any talented supporting
player who had the wit to steal it. Eurydike, waiting in the wings, felt the
theater pausing and knew that her cue had come. Had Peithon had about him the
wily veterans of his old command, some gnarled and canny phalanx-leader would
have come to his tent and said, "Sir, with respect. That young wife of King
Philip's is going about among the men and making trouble... Oh, not that kind
of trouble, she's a lady and knows it too; but..." But Peithon's crafty old
veterans had marched with Krateros, carrying the gold with which Alexander had
paid them off. It was Eurydike who had her allies and her faithful spies. Her
chief problem was Philip. On the one hand he was indispensable; on the other,
he could not safely be produced for more than minutes. To receive men without
him would invite scandal; with him, disaster. And yet, she thought, my blood
is as good and better. What is he but the bastard of a younger son, even if
his father did seize the throne? My father was the rightful King; what's more,
I was born in wedlock. Why should I hold back? She picked up her faction
first from soldiers who already knew her; her saviors on the Sardis road, the
men who had guarded the tent in Egypt; some of the walking wounded who had
survived the battle on the Nile. Soon many found pretexts to approach her
wagon on the march, give a respectful greeting, and ask if she or the King had
need of anything. She had taught Philip, if he was riding beside her, to smile
and salute and go a short way ahead. Thus sanctioned by her husband, the
ensuing talk was relieved of any awkwardness. Soon, by devious ways known to
soldiers not keenly scrutinized, the King had his own unofficial guard, and
his wife commanded it. It was proud of itself, and its unrostered numbers
grew. The march dragged on, at foot-pace with all its followers. A young
officer of her troop, remembering Alexander (they were all prone to this, and
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she had learned better than to check them), told how he used to leave the
sluggish column and go hunting with his friends. The idea delighted her. One
or other of them would ask leave to ride out for the day and join the column
at sunset, taking a few comrades; a common indulgence in a peaceful area. She
would get into her men's clothes and, asking no one's leave, go with them. Of
course the news got round; but it did her no harm. She was played into her
role by now, fed by her audience. A confiding gallant boy, a girl receiving
gratefully their protection and support, a queen who was wholly Macedonian; in
all these parts they loved her. In upland pastures, sharing a breakfast of
barley-cake and thin wine, she would tell them stories of the royal house,
from her great-grandfather Amyntas down; of his gallant sons, Perdikkas and
Philip, both kings and both her grandfathers, fighting the Illyrians on the
border when Perdikkas fell. "And because of Philip's valor they made him King.
My father was a child and could not help them; so they passed him by. He never
questioned the people's will, he was always loyal; but when Philip was
murdered, false friends accused him falsely, and the Assembly put him to
death." They hung on her words. All of them in their youth had heard old
garbled tales around the family fire; but now they were getting the real
truth, straight from a queen of the royal line; they were proud, impressed and
deeply grateful. Her chastity, so evident to them, so natural to her as to be
unconsidered, awed them. Each one of them would boast of her notice to a dozen
envious comrades when the wineskin went round at night. She talked, too, of
Philip. He had been delicate, she said, in youth; when he grew strong.
Alexander was in the full tide of his victories, and his brother felt abashed
beside him. Now, he would be glad no longer to be ruled by guardians, but
himself to be the guardian of the Macedonians, whose good he had at heart. But
because of his modesty, Perdikkas had usurped his rights; and the new
guardians did not know him, or care to know. Philip was pleased, when he rode
through the camp, to be so often and so warmly greeted. He would salute and
smile; soon she advanced his instruction. He learned to say, "Thank you for
your loyalty," and was happy to see how much the soldiers liked it. Arybbas,
going about, once or twice noticed these greetings, but saw no harm in them
and did not report them to Peithon. Peithon for his part was paying the price
for his own resentment of Perdikkas' overbearing ways. On the march to Egypt
he had shrugged his shoulders and lost interest in administration. By the time
catastrophe had prompted them to kill Perdikkas, Peithon was out of touch with
the men. Mutiny had made them truculent; all he wanted was to get the army in
one piece to the rendezvous with Antipatros. Once an Assembly could be
mustered there, a permanent guardian could be elected. He would stand down
with relief. Discipline, meantime, he left to the junior officers, who in
turn thought it wiser to take things easily. Eurydike's faction grew and
fermented. When the army made camp at Triparadisos, the brew was
ready. Triparadisos-Three Parks-was in north Syria, the creation of some past
Persian satrap who must have wished to emulate the Great King himself. Its
small river had been channeled into pools and cascades and fountains, with
marble bridges and whimsical stepping-stones of obsidian and porphyry.
Rhododendron and azalea jeweled the gentle hills; specimen trees of great
rarity and beauty, brought here by ox-train in a solid bed of their native
earth, made laced or spreading patterns against a springlike sky. There were
glades starred with lilies, whose green perspectives were overlooked by
summerhouses with fretted screens, designed for harem ladies; and
hunting-lodges of cedar-wood for the satrap and his guests. During the years
of war, the deer had been mostly poached, the peacocks eaten, and a good deal
of timber felled; but to restless weary soldiers it was Elysium. Here was the
ideal rest-camp in which to await Antipatros, reported a few days' march
away. The generals ensconced themselves in the chief hunting-lodge, built on
a central eminence and commanding long man-made vistas. In the glades and
clearings the army camped, bathing in the sparkling streams, cutting the trees
for cook-fires, snaring conies and liming birds for the pot. Arybbas found it
delightful, and went off on long rambling rides with a dear friend. Peithon so
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much outranked him that it seemed more graceful, as well as much more
pleasant, to leave discipline to him. Peithon, who thought him a lightweight,
scarcely missed him, but thought uneasily that Alexander would have found the
men something to do. Games very likely, with prizes big enough to keep them on
their toes for a few days' practice... He considered talking to Seleukos; but
Seleukos, who thought he had a better claim to the guardianship than Arybbas,
had been sulking lately. Well, thought Peithon, better leave it alone. Philip
and Eurydike were lodged in the summer-house of the old satrap's chief wife.
By now she had the remount officer among her partisans; a good horse was
always hers for the asking. She rode about her business, wearing her man's
tunic now all day. Peithon and Arybbas saw from their knoll, if they happened
to look out, only a distant horseman like any other. By now, most of the camp
knew what was going on. Not everyone approved; but Philip was King, there was
no getting past that; and no one loved either guardian well enough to risk the
dangerous task of talebearing. No matter, the doubtful thought; any day now
Antipatros would arrive. As it happened, however, an inland cloudburst had
brought the river Orontes down in flood, across Antipatros' line of march.
Seeing no pressing need for haste in peaceful country, and preferring to keep
his eighty-year-old bones dry, he made camp on rising ground and awaited the
sinking of the waters. In Triparadisos the weather was fresh and fine. Bright
and early one day, when the dew lay on the spring lilies in crystal globes,
and the birds were singing high in the fifty-year-old trees, Peithon was
wakened by an aide who rushed into his room half dressed, still tying his
girdle. "Sir, the men..." His voice was drowned by a trumpet-call which
brought Peithon to his feet, naked and staring. It was the royal fanfare which
announced a king. Arybbas came running in, a robe thrown around him. "It must
be Antipatros. Some fool of a herald..." "No," said Peithon. "Listen." He
peered through the little window. "What in the Furies' name... ? Get dressed!
Get armed!" It was quick work for Alexander's veterans. They came out on the
verandah from which the satrap had aimed his arrows at driven game. The broad
glade before them was filled with soldiers. At their head, mounted, were
Philip and Eurydike. The trumpeter stood by them, looking defiant, and full of
the importance of a man who is making history. Eurydike spoke. She was
wearing her man's tunic, and all her armor except her helmet. She was
uplifted, glowing; her skin was clear and transparent; her hair shone; the
vitality of great daring flowed through her and rayed out of her. She did not
know, nor would have wished to know, that Alexander had glowed like this on
his great days; but her followers knew it. Young, clear and hard, her voice
carried as far as Ptolemy's bass had done in Egypt. "In the name of King
Philip son of Philip! Perdikkas his guardian is dead. He has no need of new
guardians. He is of age, thirty years old, and able to reign for himself. He
claims his throne!" Beside her, Philip threw up his hand. His shout,
startlingly loud, unfamiliar to all his hearers, boomed out. "Macedonians! Do
you take me for your King?" The cheers came crashing back, making the birds
beat up from the tree-tops. "Long live King Philip! Long Live Queen
Eurydike!" A galloping horse thudded over to the lodge. The rider threw his
bridle to a scared slave and strode up to the verandah. Seleukos, whose
courage was legendary and who knew it, was having no one say he had skulked in
his quarters during a mutiny. He was a well-liked general. In his presence,
incipient shouts of "Death to the guardians!" sank away. The cheers for Philip
went on. Through the din, Seleukos bawled in Peithon's ear, "They're not all
here. Play for time. Call for a full Assembly." It was true that about a
third of the men looked to have stayed away. Peithon stepped forward; shouts
sank to muttering. "Very well. You're free Macedonians, you have your rights.
But remember, Antipatros' men are only a few miles off, and they have their
rights. This touches all the citizens." There was a surge of discontent. They
were keyed-up, impatient. It needed only Eurydike's "No! Now!" to set them off
again. Something made her look around. Philip was drawing his sword. She had
had to let him wear it if he was to look like a man, let alone a king. In
another moment, by the look of his eyes, he would be charging at the lodge.
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For an instant she hesitated. Would they follow him... ? But he would be
helpless in combat, all would be lost. "Let's kill them!" he said eagerly. "We
can kill them, look." "No. Put it back." He did so, obedient though
regretful. "Now call out to the men, 'Let Peithon speak.'" He was at once
obeyed. Never before had he so impressed the soldiers. Peithon knew he could
do no more. "I hear you," he said. "Yes, you can call Assembly. Don't blame me
when the Regent comes and it's all to be done again. Herald, you down there.
Come up here and sound." The Assembly was held in the glade before the
hunting-lodge. The men who had stayed aloof answered the summons; there were
rather more than Eurydike had thought. But the glow of success was on her
when, with Philip, she mounted the verandah which was to serve as rostrum.
Smiling she looked around the cheering faces. The silent ones she could do
without well enough. At the far end of the platform, Peithon was talking
quietly to Seleukos. She ran over in her mind what she meant to say. Peithon
came up to her. "You shall have the last word. A woman's privilege." He was
sure of himself, she thought. Well, let him learn. He stepped forward briskly
to the front of the platform. He got a few boos, but soon the sound died down.
This was Assembly, and ancient custom held. "Macedonians!" His crisp bark cut
through the last murmurs. "In Egypt, in full Assembly, you appointed me and
Arybbas as guardians of the Kings. It seems that you've changed your minds,
never mind why. So be it. We accept. No need to put it to the vote; we are
both agreed. We resign the guardianship." There was complete, stunned
silence. They were like men in a tug-of-war when the other team lets go.
Peithon made the most of it. "Yes, we resign. But, the office of guardian
stands. That office was decreed in full Assembly when Alexander died.
Remember, you have two kings, one of them too young yet to speak for himself.
If you vote Philip to rule in his own right, you appoint him guardian of
Alexander's son, till he comes of age. Before you vote, consider all these
things." "Yes! Yes!" They were like the audience at a play when the actors
are slow to enter. Eurydike saw it. It was for her that they were waiting; and
she was ready. "Here, then," said Peithon, "is Philip son of Philip, Who
claims his right to rule. King Philip, come here." Meekly, with a look of
faint surprise, Philip joined him at the head of the central steps. "The
King," said Peithon, falling back a pace, "will now address you and state his
case." Eurydike stood frozen. The sky had fallen on her, and she had not seen
that it was inevitable from the first. She was crushed by the shock of her
own folly. She sought no excuse, did not remind herself that she was only just
turned sixteen. In her own mind she was a king, a warrior. She had blundered,
and that was all. Philip gazed around him, smiling vaguely. He was greeted
with friendly, encouraging cheers. They all knew he was a man of few words,
and over-modest. "Long live Philip!" they called. "Philip for King!" Philip's
head went up. He knew quite well what the meeting was about, Eurydike had told
him. But she had told him, too, never to say a word she had not taught him
first. He shot an anxious look at her, to see if she would talk instead; but
she was looking straight before her. Instead, the voice of Arybbas just behind
him, smooth and insistent, said, "Sir, speak to the soldiers. They are all
waiting." "Come on, Philip!" they shouted. "Silence for the King!" He waved
his hand at them; they hushed each other to hear. "Thank you for your
loyalty." That was safe, he knew; yes, they all liked it. Good. "I want to be
King. I'm old enough to be King. Alexander told me not to, but he's dead." He
paused, collecting his thoughts. "Alexander let me hold the incense. He told
Hephaistion, I heard him, he said I'm not as slow as I'm made out to be."
There were indeterminate noises. He added, reassuringly, "If I don't know what
to do, Eurydike will tell me." There was a moment's stupefied pause, then
confused uproar. They turned on one another, abusive, expostulating,
wrangling. "I told you, now you see." "He spoke to me like any man, only
yesterday." "He has the falling sickness, it takes men so." "Well, he told us
the truth, you can give him that." Eurydike stood as if bound to the
execution post. Gladly she would have been dispersed in air. Everywhere,
repeated as the joke was relished, she heard, "Eurydike will tell me what to
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do." Encouraged by his reception, Philip was still speaking. "When I'm King, I
shall always ride an elephant." Behind him, Peithon and Arybbas looked
complacently at each other. Something in the laughter began to give Philip
doubts. It reminded him of the dreadful wedding night. He remembered the magic
phrase, "Thank you for your loyalty"; but they did not cheer, only laughed
louder. Should he run away, would he be caught? He turned to Eurydike a face
of panic appeal. At first she moved like an automaton, carried by her pride.
She gave the smug guardians a single look of scorn. Without a glance at the
buzzing crowd below, she went on to Philip and took him by the hand. With
ineffable relief and trust he turned to her. "Was the speech right?" he
said. Holding up her head, for a moment she faced the crowd before she
answered him. "Yes, Philip. But it is finished now. Come, we can sit
down." She led him to the benches by the wall, where once the satrap and his
guests had sat with their wine to await the huntsman's call. The Assembly
continued without them. It was involved and fretful. The factions had
collapsed into absurdity. A few hundred voices urged Peithon and Arybbas to
resume their charge, meeting a vigorous refusal. Seleukos in turn declined.
While lesser names were being tossed about, a courier rode in. He announced
that Antipatros with his army was crossing the Orontes, and would arrive
within two days. Peithon, giving out this news, reminded the men that ever
since Perdikkas' death both the Kings had been on their way to Macedon, where
they belonged. Who, then, was more fitted than the Regent to be their
guardian, now Krateros was dead? Sullenly they settled for this solution,
since no one had a better one. Quietly, during the debate, Eurydike had led
her husband away. Over their midday meal he repeated his speech to Konon, who
praised it and avoided meeting her eyes. She hardly heard them. Beaten to her
knees, faced with surrender, she felt her blood remembering its sources. The
shade of Alexander taunted her; he, at sixteen, had held Macedon as Regent,
and fought a victorious war. The fire of her ambition smoldered still under
its embers. Why had she been humbled? Not for reaching too high, but too low.
I was mocked, she thought, because I did not dare enough. From now on, I will
claim my rights for myself. At evening, when the sun sank over Asia and the
first smoke rose, she put on her man's tunic, called for her horse, and rode
out among the watch-fires. Two days later, riding ahead of the Regent and his
army, Antigonos One-Eye reached the camp at Triparadisos. He was the man who
had escaped to Macedon to reveal Perdikkas' plot. Alexander had made him
Satrap of Phrygia; the grateful Regent had appointed him Commander-in-Chief of
all the troops in Asia. He was now on the way to take up his new command. He
rode a Persian "great horse," being so tall that no Greek horse could carry
him far. But for his eye-patch-he had lost the eye winning Phrygia for
Alexander-he was still a handsome man. His even handsomer young son Demetrios,
who went with him everywhere, worshiped him. Riding side by side, they made an
impressive pair. With the small column of his entourage, he entered the
woodland fringes of the park. Soon, cocking his ear, he motioned his train to
halt. "What is it, Father? Is it a battle?" The boy's eyes kindled. He was
fifteen, and had never yet fought in war. "No," said his father, listening.
"It's a brawl. Or mutiny. High time I came, by the sound. Forward." To his son
he said, "What's Peithon about? He did well enough under Alexander. Never
think you know a man whom you've only seen acting under orders. Well, he's a
stopgap here. We'll see." The prospect did not displease him. His own
ambitions were great. Eurydike had rallied to her cause about four-fifths of
the army. At the head of her troops, she had appeared before the generals'
lodge, announced with the royal fanfare, demanding, this time, joint rule for
Philip and herself. The three generals gazed down with revulsion, not unmixed
with fear, at the mob below. It looked worse than mutinous; it looked
anarchic. Eurydike herself was half aware of this. Her training in weaponry
had not included military drill, and she had not considered in advance that
her following would be more manageable, as well as more impressive, if she
drew it up in some kind of formation. A year ago, the junior officers (the
seniors had held aloof) would have managed for her; but much had happened in a
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year, and most of it bad for discipline. So now an armed rabble followed her;
men shouldered each other to get in front, and hurled insults at the
generals. It was as boos and jeers were drowning Peithon's voice that
Antigonos and his suite had come into earshot. After his first distant
glimpse, he sent Demetrios to scout ahead; it was good training for the boy.
He cantered gaily into the trees, coming back to report that there was a horde
of men gathered in front of what looked like headquarters, but no one to speak
of at the back. Meantime, Eurydike felt, behind her, the mass begin to
seethe. She must lead them on, now, or somehow hold them back. Inherited
instinct told her she would not lead them long. They would surge past her and
lynch the generals. After that, her frail authority would be swept
away. "Herald, blow halt!" She faced them with lifted arms; they swayed
restlessly, but came no further. She turned again to confront the
generals. The verandah was empty. During the uproar of the last few minutes,
the generals had learned that their new commander-in-chief had arrived in
camp. He was in the lodge behind them. The room inside, with its dark wood
and little windows, had an air of dangerous gloom, in which, peering, they
made out the towering form of Antigonos, seated in the satrap's chair; glaring
at them, like a Cyclops, with his single eye. The young Demetrios, a splinter
of light picking out his dazzling profile, stood like a fierce attendant
spirit behind him. Antigonos said nothing. He pierced them with his eye, and
waited. As he heard out their lamentable tale, his face changed slowly from
grimness to sheer incredulity. After a disturbing pause, he said, "How old is
this girl?" Shouting against the impatient roar from outside, Seleukos told
him. Antigonos swiveled his head to sweep them with his eye, ending at
Peithon. "Thundering Zeus!" he said. "Are you soldiers or pedagogues? Not even
pedagogues, by God! Stay here." He strode out on the verandah. The apparition
from nowhere of this huge, formidable and famous man, instead of the expected
victims, startled the crowd into almost total silence. Eurydike, who had no
idea who he was, stared at him blankly. Philip, whom she had forgotten, began,
"That's Antigonos. He..." He was drowned by a boom from Antigonos' great
chest. Soldiers in the front, despite themselves, straightened up and made
vain shuffling efforts to dress their line. "Stand back there, you sons of
fifty fathers!" Antigonos roared. "Get back, Hades and the Furies take you!
What do you think you are, a horde of naked savages? Stand up and let me look
at you. Soldiers, are you? I've seen better soldiers robbing caravans.
Macedonians, are you? Alexander wouldn't know you. Your own mothers wouldn't
know you, not if they could help. If you want to hold Assembly, you'd better
look like Macedonians, before some real ones come here and see you. That will
be this afternoon. Then you can hold Assembly, if the rest agree. Clean
yourselves up, curse you, you stink like goats." Eurydike heard, dismayed,
defiant shouts change to an indeterminate grumbling. Antigonos, who had
ignored her, seemed to see her for the first time. "Young lady," he said,
"take your husband back to his quarters, and look after him. It's a wife he
needs, not a female general. Go about your work, and leave me to mine. I
learned it from your grandfather before ever you were born." There was a
wavering pause; the edges of the press began to fall away, the center to
loosen. Eurydike cried out, "We will have our rights!" and some voices took it
up, but not enough. The hateful giant had beaten her, and she did not know
even his name. Back in the tent, Konon told her. While she considered her
next move, the smell of food reminded her that her young stomach was hungry.
She waited till Philip had done-she hated to see him eating-and sat down to
her meal. Somewhere outside, a high imperious voice was arguing with the
guard. Konon, who was pouring her wine, looked up. A youth came in; stunningly
handsome, and hardly as old as herself. With his perfect features and
clustering short gold curls, he could have posed for a Hermes to any sculptor.
Like Hermes he entered lightly, and stood poised before her, fixing her with
the gaze of a scornful god. "I am Demetrios, son of Antigonos." He sounded,
too, like a deity announcing himself at the opening of a play. "I am here to
warn you, Eurydike. It is not my custom to make war on women. But if you harm
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a hair of my father's head, your life shall pay for it. That is all.
Farewell." He was gone, as he had come, through the disorganized army; his
speed, his youth and arrogance cleaving his way. She stared after this first
antagonist of her own age. Konon snorted. "The insolent young dog! Who let him
in? 'Not my custom to make war on women'! Who is he used to make war on, I'd
like to know? His father should take a strap to him." Eurydike ate quickly
and went out. The visitation had spurred her flagging purpose. Antigonos was a
force of nature with which she could not contend; but he was one man alone.
The troops were still mutinous and ripe for revolt. She dared not assemble
them, which would bring him down on her again; but she went among them,
reminding them that Antipatros, who was coming, was not the rightful Regent,
that he feared being displaced by a rightful King. If he was allowed, he would
seek out Philip and herself and all the best of their followers, to be put to
death. Antigonos, meanwhile, had sent one of his suite to meet the Regent and
warn him to prepare for trouble. But the Regent and his escort had come by
short-cuts over the hills; the messenger missed his way, arriving late at the
tail-end of the column. There he was told that the old man had gone ahead with
his bodyguard, long before noon. Sitting straight on his easy-pacing charger,
his stiff legs aching on the saddle-cloth, his face set in the harsh stare
which was his mask for the pains and infirmities of age, the Regent rode to
Triparadisos. His doctor had urged him to go by litter. But so had his son
Kassandros, back in Macedon; who was only waiting to insist that his failing
strength called for a deputy-naturally, himself. Antipatros neither trusted
nor much liked his eldest son. Here in Syria, since Perdikkas' death anything
might have happened; and he meant to arrive, the gods and physic helping him,
looking like a man to be obeyed. The main gate into the park was dignified
with great columns topped with stone lotuses. Antipatros took the good road
which duly led him there. Noises came from beyond; but to his annoyed
surprise no escort was there to meet him. He told his herald to announce him
with a trumpet blast. In the lodge, the generals knew, with dismay, that his
main force could not have come so quickly. Their envoy had missed him. Almost
at once a rising commotion was heard; and a squadron leader, who had not
joined the revolt, came galloping up. "Sir! The Regent's here with no more
than fifty horse, and the rebels are mobbing him." They ran for their
helmets-the rest of their armor was on-and shouted for their horses. Neither
Peithon nor Arybbas had ever lacked personal courage; they reached for their
javelins briskly. Antigonos said, "No, not you two. If you come they'll fall
on all of us. Stay here, get anyone you can find and hold the lodge. Come,
Seleukos. We'll go and talk to them." As Seleukos mounted, vaulting upon his
spear, Antigonos on his tall horse beside him, he felt for a moment the old
elation of the golden years. It was welcome after the squalid affair in Egypt,
from which he did not yet feel clean. When, though, in those years had he ever
felt in danger from his own men? The Regent had reached an age when
discomfort and fatigue bothered him more than danger. Expecting nothing worse
than disaffection, he had come in a light riding tunic and straw sun-hat,
armed only with his sword. Seleukos and Antigonos, galloping down between huge
cedars and deodars and spreading planes, saw the tight knot of the bodyguard
sway in the press around it, the broad-brimmed hat fly off among the helmets,
the vulnerable gleam of silver hair. "Try not to draw blood," called
Antigonos to Seleukos. "They'll kill us then." With a bellow of "Halt, there!"
he shoved down into the press. Their firmness, their fame, Antigonos' great
height and overwhelming presence, got them through to the Regent, glaring
under his white brows like an ancient eagle beset by crows, and grasping his
old sword. "What's this, what's this?" he said. Antigonos gave him a brief
salute (did he think there was time to chat? The old man must be failing at
last) and addressed the soldiers. Had they no shame? They claimed to respect
the King; had they no respect for Philip his great father, the maker of their
nation, who had appointed this man and trusted him? He had never been deposed
by Alexander, only summoned for a conference while a deputy relieved him...
Antigonos when he chose could persuade as well as dominate. The crowd sullenly
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parted; the Regent and his rescuers rode up to the lodge. Eurydike had been
preparing her speech for the coming Assembly, and knew nothing of the fracas
till it was over. It shocked her that followers of hers might have butchered
this ancient man. It offended her poetic image of war. Besides, they should be
under her control and seen to be so. Only Athenian demagogues made speeches
while others fought. An hour before sunset, Antipatros' main force arrived.
She heard, rumbling on into the dusk, the horse and foot filing into the
parks, the shouting and creaking of the supply trains, the bustle of camp
slaves pitching tents, the rattle of stacked arms, the whinnying of horses
scenting their kind; and, lasting long after, the hubbub of men in animated
talk, exchanging news and rumors and opinions. It was the sound of the agora,
the wineshop, the gymnasium, the forum; agelong leitmotif of the lands by the
Middle Sea. After sundown, a few of her following came, to say they had been
arguing her cause with Antipatros' men; one or two had cuts and bruises. But
these had been little fights, stopped quickly by authority. She read the omens
of discipline restored, and not wholly unwelcome. When a senior officer of the
Regent's staff came to the tent, they all, to a man, saluted. He announced
that a full Assembly would be held next day, to decide the kingdom's affairs.
King Philip would no doubt wish to attend it.Philip had been building himself
a little fort on the floor, and trying to man it with some ants who persisted
in deserting. Hearing the message, he said anxiously, "Must I make a
speech?" "That, sir, is as you wish," the envoy said impassively. He turned
to Eurydike. "Daughter of Amyntas, Antipatros sends you greeting. He says that
though it is not the custom of the Macedonians for women to address Assembly,
you have his leave to do so. When he himself has spoken, they will decide if
they wish to hear you." "Tell him I shall be there." When he had gone,
Philip said eagerly, "He promised I needn't make a speech if I didn't want to.
Please don't make me." She felt she could have struck him; but she held back,
fearing to lose her hold on him. Indeed, she had some fear of his
strength. The Assembly was held next day with ancient procedure. Foreign
soldiers, the legacies of Alexander's catholic racial mix, were barred. An
impressive rostrum was raised in the biggest clearing, with seats of honor
below it. As Eurydike took her place, whispering to Philip a last order to
keep still, she felt in the huge throng a new, impalpable change. Something
was different, and yet somehow familiar. It was the feel of the homeland, the
native hills. Antigonos spoke first. Here, at Assembly, the angry general was
gone. A statesman spoke, not without the skills of oratory. With dignity he
reminded them of their heroic past under Alexander, urged them not to disgrace
it, and introduced the Regent. The old man stepped briskly up to the rostrum.
His own army cheered him; no hostile sound was heard. As he looked about him,
as with perfect timing he signed for silence, an unwanted voice said within
Eurydike, This man is a king. He had reigned over Macedon and Greece
throughout Alexander's wars. He had crushed the sporadic risings of the south,
imposed on its cities the rulers of his choice, exiled his opponents. He had
defeated even Olympias. Now he was old and brittle, his height had begun to
shrink, his deep voice to crack; but still, given off from his inner core, the
aura of power and command surrounded him. He told them of their forefathers,
he told them of Philip who had rescued their fathers from invasion and civil
war, and begotten Alexander who had made them masters of the world. They had
become a tree with wide and spreading branches-he gestured to the noble timber
standing round-but the greatest tree will die if its roots are sundered from
its native earth. Could they bear to sink down among the barbarians they had
conquered? He told them of the birth of Arridaios, the lackwit they had
honored with Philip's name; he told what Philip had thought of him, ignoring
his presence in the seats below. He reminded them that in all their history,
they had never had a woman ruler. Would they now choose a woman and a
fool? Philip, who had followed his peroration, nodded sagely. He found it
somehow reassuring. Alexander had told him he ought not to be King, and now
this forceful old man agreed. Perhaps they would tell him, now, that he could
be Arridaios again. Antipatros' own men had been for him from the start. For
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the rebels, it was like a slow awakening from restless dreams. All round her,
like the sough of shingle on an ebb-tide beach, Eurydike felt the lapse of the
withdrawing sea. She would not, could not admit defeat. She would speak, it
was her right; she had won them once and would again. Soon this old man would
finish talking, and she must be ready. Her hands had clenched, her back and
her shoulders tightened; her stomach contracted, achingly. The aching turned
to a cramp, a low heavy drag which, with dismay, she tried at first not to
recognize. In vain; it was true. Her menses, not due for four days, had
started. She had always counted carefully, always been regular. How could it
happen now? It would come on quickly, once begun, and she had not put on a
towel. She had been strung-up this morning; what had she failed to notice in
all the stress? Already she felt a warning moisture. If she stood on the
rostrum, everyone would see. The Regent's speech approached its climax. He
was talking of Alexander; she hardly heard. She looked at the thousands of
faces round her, on the slopes, in the trees. Why, among all these humans made
by the gods, was she alone subject to this betrayal, she only who could be
cheated by her body at a great turn of fate? Beside her sat Philip, with his
useless gift of a strong man's frame. If she had owned it, it would have
carried her up to the rostrum and given her a voice of bronze. Now she must
creep from the field without a battle; and even her well-wishers would think,
Poor girl! Antipatros had finished. When the applause subsided, he said,
"Will the Assembly now hear Eurydike, daughter of Amyntas, the wife of
Arridaios?" No one dissented. Antipatros' men were curious; her partisans
were ashamed to vote against her. Their minds were made up, but they were
prepared at least to listen. Now was the moment for a true leader to compel
their hearts... She had come, the morning being fresh, with a himation round
her shoulders. Now, carefully, she slipped it down to her elbows, to drape in
a curve over her buttocks, as elegant ladies wore it in fresco paintings.
Getting to her feet, taking care over her draperies, she said, "I do not wish
to address the Macedonians." Roxane had kept her tent in a good deal of
alarm, among scared eunuchs and terrified women; sure that if the mutiny
succeeded, Eurydike's first action would be to kill her and her child; it was,
as Roxane saw it, the natural thing to do. It took her some time to learn the
Assembly's decision, since only Macedonians had attended. At length her
wagoner, a Greek-speaking Sidonian, came back to report that the wife of
Philip had been quite put down without a word to say; that Antipatros the
Regent had been made guardian of both the Kings; and that, as soon as the
great lords had agreed to divide the satrapies, he would take both royal
households back to Macedon. "Ah!" she cried, and threw off fear like a cloak.
"All will be well, then. It is my husband's kingdom. They know the fool Philip
from his childhood days; of course they will have none of him. It is my child
they will wish to see. Alexander's mother will be waiting." Alexander had
never read her the letter Olympias had sent him when he had informed her of
his marriage. She had advised him, if the barbarian girl should bear a boy, to
have it smothered lest it should someday pretend to the throne. It was high
time for him to visit the homeland and beget a Macedonian, as she had begged
him to do before he crossed to Asia. This letter had not been placed in the
royal archives. He had shown it to Hephaistion, and then burned it. 319
B.C. beside the great palace of Archelaos at Pella stood Antipatros' house.
It was solid but unpretentious; scrupulously correct, he had always avoided a
regal style. Its only adornments were a columned portico and a terrace. The
house was hushed and closed. Straw and rushes were laid on the terrace paving.
Small groups of people stood at decent distances, to watch the comings and
goings of the doctors and the kin: townspeople drawn by curiosity and the
sense of drama; guest-friends awaiting the signal for condolence and funeral
plans; dealers in mourning-wreaths and grave-goods. Hovering more discreetly,
or represented by spies, were the consuls of client cities, who had the most
at stake. Nobody knew who would inherit power when the old man unclenched at
last his grasp of life, or whether his policies would be continued. His last
action, before he took to his bed, had been to hang two envoys bringing a
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petition from Athens, a father and son who he found had corresponded with
Perdikkas. Neither age nor his wasting sickness had softened Antipatros. Now
the watchers scanned, whenever it appeared, the set frowning face of his son
Kassandros, trying to read the omens. Near by in the palace, that famous
wonder of the north, where both the Kings maintained their separate
households, the tension was like the string of a drawn bow. Roxane stood in
her window, looking from behind a curtain at the silent crowd. She had never
felt at home in Macedon. The mother of Alexander had not been there to receive
her or admire her son, having vowed, it seemed, never to set foot in Macedon
while Antipatros lived. She was still in Dodona. To Roxane the Regent had
behaved with formal courtesy; but before they had crossed the Hellespont he
had sent her eunuchs home. They would cause her, he told her, to be taken for
a barbarian, and people would ill-use them. She was now fluent in Greek, and
could be attended by Macedonian ladies. The ladies had instructed her,
politely, in the local customs. Politely, they had dressed her suitably; and,
very politely, made it clear that she spoiled her son. In Macedon, boys were
made ready to be men. He was now four, and in this foreign place inclined to
cling to her; she in her loneliness could hardly bear him out of her sight.
Soon Antipatros had reappeared-no doubt the women were his spies-and declared
himself amazed that Alexander's son should have only a few words of Greek. It
was time that he had a pedagogue. This person arrived next day. The customary
sober slave, Antipatros had decided, was not enough. He had chosen a vigorous
young patrician, already at twenty-five a veteran of the Greek rebellion.
Antipatros had noticed the strictness of his army discipline. He had had no
occasion to notice that he was fond of children. It had been the dream of
Kebes' life to fight under Alexander; he had been drafted to go with the
contingent Antipatros would have brought to Babylon. He had borne in silence
his shattered hopes, and performed his distasteful duty of fighting
fellow-Greeks instead, though his men thought him rather dour. From habit
rather than intent he had accepted his appointment dourly, betraying nothing
to the Regent of the elation within. The first sight of the dark-haired,
soft-skinned, plump child had disappointed him; but he had not expected an
Alexander in little. For the mother he had been prepared. She clearly supposed
that once out of her care her son would be bullied and beaten; the child,
seeing he was expected to be frightened, struggled and whined. Taken out
firmly without fuss, he displayed a lively curiosity and swiftly forgot his
tears. Kebes knew the maxim of the famous Spartan nurses: never expose a
small child to fear, let him enter confidently on boyhood. By small safe
stages, he introduced his charge to horses, to large dogs, to the noise of
soldiers drilling. Roxane, waiting at home to comfort her ill-used child,
found him full of himself, trying to describe the delights of his morning, for
which he knew only Greek. He picked up the language quickly. Soon he was
talking incessantly of his father. Roxane had told him he was the son of the
world's most powerful king; Kebes related the legendary exploits. He himself
had been a boy of ten when Alexander crossed to Asia; he had seen him in the
height of his glowing youth, and imagined the rest. If the child was still too
small to emulate, he could already learn to aspire. Kebes had been happy in
his work. Now, waiting with the rest before the straw-strewn terrace, he felt
the uncertain future shadowing his achievement. Had the child, after all, any
more in him than boys at home whom he had known at the same age? Had the great
days gone forever? What world would he and his like inherit? He was brooding
on this when the ritual wails began. Roxane heard them from her window, saw
the waiting people turning to one another, and went in to pace her room,
pausing sometimes to clutch the child to her breast. Alarmed, he asked what
was the matter, getting no answer but, "What will become of us now?" Five
years before, in the summer palace of Ekbatana, Alexander had told her of
Kassandros, the Regent's heir, whom he had left behind in Macedon from fear of
treachery. When Alexander died he had been in Babylon; very likely he had had
him poisoned. In Pella he had come to pay his respects to her, professedly on
behalf of his sick father; really, no doubt, to look at Alexander's son. He
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had been civil, but unmeaningly, merely accounting for his presence; she had
hated and feared his reddish freckled face, his harsh pale eyes, his look of
undisclosed purpose. Today she was more frightened than during the mutiny in
Syria. If only she could have stayed in Babylon, in a world she knew, among
people she could understand! Kassandros in the death-chamber stared with
embittered anger at his father's shrunken corpse. He could not bring himself
to lean and close his eyes; an old aunt, looking reproach, pressed down the
withered lids and pulled up the blanket. Across the bed from him stood
stolid, fifty-year-old Polyperchon, his grey stubbled chin unshaven from the
nightwatch; making a matter-of-fact gesture of respectful grief, his mind
already on his new responsibilities. To him, not to Kassandros, Antipatros had
bequeathed the guardianship of the Kings. Thorough to the last, before he
drifted into coma he had sent for all the chief noblemen to witness his
intent, and elicited their oath to vote for it at Assembly. He had been
senseless since yesterday; the ceasing of the breath was a mere formality.
Polyperchon, who had respected him, was glad to end the tiring ritual and get
to business, which was in arrears. He had not sought his new charge;
Antipatros had had to plead with him. It had been shocking and terrible, like
seeing his own stern father groveling at his feet. "Do this for me," he had
wheezed. "Old friend, I beg you." Polyperchon was not even an old friend; he
had been in Asia with Alexander until he rode back with Krateros. He had been
in Macedon when Alexander died, and made himself useful in the southern
rebellion. While the Regent had been away in nearer Asia fetching home the
Kings, Polyperchon had been left as deputy. That had been the start of it. "I
took my oath to Philip." The dying man had cleared his throat, even that an
effort. His voice rustled like dry reeds. "And to his heirs. I will not"-he
choked, and paused-"be forsworn by my son. I know him. I know what... Promise
me, friend. Swear by the Styx. I beg you, Polyperchon." In the end he had
sworn, only to stop it and escape. Now he was bound. As Antipatros' last
gasps tainted the air, he could feel Kassandros' hatred flowing out of him
across the body. Well, he had faced hard men under Philip at Chaironeia, under
Alexander at Issos and Gaugamela. He had not risen above brigade commander,
yet Alexander had picked him for the Bodyguard, and trust went no higher than
that. Polyperchon, he had said, holds on. Soon he must make himself known to
the royal households, taking his eldest son; an Alexandros, he liked to think,
who would bring no discredit on the name. Kassandros, who cared greatly what
people thought of him, could at least be trusted to put on a handsome
funeral. Eurydike had been out riding when the Regent died. She had known the
news was near; when she had had it, she would be pent in the dreary, stifling
rites of mourning, which it would be indecent to neglect. For company on her
side she had a couple or grooms, and a strapping young lady of her household,
chosen only because she was a hill-woman and rode well. The days of her
cavalry escorts were over; Antipatros had had her vigilantly watched for
conspiracy with soldiers. Only Philip himself, by bursting into tears, had
persuaded him to leave old Konon. Even so, she sometimes got salutes, and
still acknowledged them. Turning back towards Pella with a westering sun
behind her, the hill-shadows creeping out over the lagoon, she felt a stirring
of destiny, a change of pace in the wheel of fortune. It was not without hope
that she had awaited the cries of mourning. To her, as well as to Roxane,
Kassandros had paid his respects during his father's illness. Formally
speaking, he had paid them to the King her husband; but with some finesse had
conversed respectfully with Philip, while making it clear that his words were
meant for her. The looks which, to Roxane, had seemed fierce and savage, were
to Eurydike those of a fellow-countryman; not notable for beauty, but engraved
with resolution and strength. He would have, no doubt, his father's hardness;
but also his father's competence. She had assumed, since he clearly did so,
that he would succeed his father. She had known what he meant when he said
that the Macedonians were fortunate in having one king of the true blood, and
a queen who was no less so. He had hated Alexander, he would never allow the
barbarian's child to rule. It had seemed to her that they understood each
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other. The news of Polyperchon's election had disconcerted her. She had never
met him, barely knew him by sight. Now, when she came back from her ride, she
found him in the royal rooms, talking with Philip. He must have been there
some time. Philip seemed quite at ease with him, and was telling him a
rambling story about snakes in India. "Konon found it under my bath. He killed
it with a stick. He said the little ones were the worst." "Quite right, sir.
They could get into a boot, a man of mine died of it." He turned to Eurydike,
complimented her on her husband's health, begged her to call on him if he
could be of service, and took his leave. Clearly it was too soon, with the
Regent still unburied, to ask him about his plans; but she was angry that he
had told her nothing, and presented himself to Philip without regard for her
absence. All through the long pompous funeral rites, walking in the
procession with shorn hair and ash on her black dress, adding her wail to the
chant of lamentation, she scanned Kassandros' face, whenever he came in sight,
for some hint of purpose. It was only solid, correct, shaped for the
occasion. Later, when the men went to the pyre to burn the body, and she
stood apart with the women, she heard a loud cry, and saw some kind of stir
beside the fire. Then Konon was running through all the men of rank towards
it. Soon he came out, with a couple of the guard of honor, carrying Philip,
with flaccid limbs and open mouth. Lagging, ashamed, she went over and walked
with them towards the palace. "Madam," Konon muttered, "if you could speak to
the General. He's not used to the King, he doesn't know what upsets him. I had
a word with him, but he told me to remember my place." "I will tell him."
With the back of her head, she could feel scornful Roxane looking after her.
One day, she thought, you will not make light of me. In the palace, Konon
undressed Philip, washed him-in the fit he had wetted his robe-and put him to
bed. Eurydike in her room took off her mourning dress and combed the soft
wood-ash from her ritually disheveled hair. She thought, He is my husband. I
knew what he was before I took him. I did it from free choice; so I am bound
to him in honor. My mother would tell me so. She called for a warm egg posset
with a splash of wine, and took it in to him. Konon had gone off with the
dirty clothes. He looked up at her pleading, like a sick dog at a hard master.
"See," she said, "I have brought you something nice. Never mind that you were
taken ill, you couldn't help it. Many people don't like to watch a funeral
pyre." He looked at her thankfully and put his face to the bowl. He was glad
that she asked no questions. The last thing he remembered, before the drumbeat
in his head and the terrible white light, was the beard of the corpse
blackening and stinking in the fire. It had brought back to him a day a long
time ago, before he went journeying with Alexander. That had been the funeral
of the King, so they had told him, but he had not known whom they meant. They
had cut short his hair and put a black robe on him and dirtied his face, and
made him walk with a lot of people crying. And there was his frightening
father, whom he had not seen for years, lying on a bed of logs and brushwood,
with a grand bedspread, grim-faced and dead. He had never seen a dead man
before. Alexander was there. He too had had a haircut, the fair crop shone in
the sun. He had made a speech, quite a long one, about what the King had done
for the Macedonians; then, suddenly, he had taken a torch from someone who had
been holding it, and stuck it in among the brushwood. Horrified, Philip had
watched as the flames rushed up, roaring and crackling, running along the
edges of the embroidered pall, then bursting through it; then the hair and the
beard... For a long time afterwards, he would wake with a scream in the night,
and could tell no one that he had dreamed of his burning father. The polished
marble doors closed on Antipatros. tomb, and an uneasy calm fell upon
Macedon. Polyperchon gave out that he had no wish for arbitrary powers.
Antipatros had governed for an absent ruler. It was now proper that the chief
men should share his counsels. Many Macedonians approved this sign of antique
virtue. Some others said that Polyperchon was incapable of decision and wished
to avoid too much responsibility. The calm became easier. Every eye was upon
Kassandros. His father had not wholly passed him over. He had been appointed
Chiliarch, Polyperchon's second in command, a rank to which Alexander had
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given high prestige. Would he be content with it? Men watched his rufous
impassive face as he came and went in Pella, and said to each other that he
had never been a man to swallow slights. However, having buried his father he
went quietly about his business through the mourning month. When it was up, he
paid his respects to Philip and Eurydike. "Greet him," she said to her
husband when he was announced, "and then don't talk. It may be
important." Kassandros' greetings to the King were brief. He addressed
himself to the Queen. "I shall be gone for a time; I am going to our country
place. I have had a good deal to try me; now I mean to make up a hunting parry
of old friends, and forget public affairs." She wished him well with it. He
did not miss the questioning in her eyes. "Your goodwill," he said, "has been
a solace and support to me. You and the King may count on me in these troubled
times. You, sir"-he turned to Philip- "are your father's undoubted son. Your
mother's life was never a public scandal." To Eurydike he said, "As no doubt
you know, there have always been doubts about the birth of Alexander." When
he had gone, Philip said, "What did he mean about Alexander?" "Never mind. I
am not sure what he meant. We shall find out later." Antipatros' country
place was an old run-down hill-fort, overlooking a well-managed rich estate.
He had lived at Pella, and run the land with a bailiff. His sons had used the
place for hunting parties, such as this one had, till now, appeared to be. In
the upper room of the rude keep a fire was burning on the round hearth under
the smoke-hole; autumn nights were sharp in the hills. Around it, on old
benches or sheepskin-covered stools, sat a dozen or so of youngish men,
dressed in the day's leather and tough-woven wool, smelling of the horses
which could be heard stirring and champing on the floor below, where grooms
speaking Thracian were mending and waxing tack. Kassandros, a red man in the
red firelight, sat by his brother Nikanor. Iollas had died soon after he got
home from Asia, of a quartan fever picked up in the Babylonian swamps; he had
gone down quickly, showing little fight. The fourth brother, Alexarchos, had
not been invited. He was learned, slightly mad, and mainly employed in
inventing a new language for a Utopian state he had seen in visions. Besides
his uselessness, he could not be trusted to hold his tongue. Kassandros said,
"We've been here three days and no one's come spying. We can begin to move.
Derdas, Atheas, can you start early tomorrow?" "Yes," said the two men across
the hearth. "Get fresh horses at Abdera, Ainos; Amphipolis if you must. Take
care at Amphipolis, keep away from the garrison, someone might know you. Simas
and Antiphon can start next day. Keep a day between you on the road. Two men
aren't noticed, four make people look." Derdas said, "And the message for
Antigonos?" “I’ll give you a letter. You'll be safe enough if you don't draw
notice. Polyperchon's a blockhead. I'm hunting, good, he can go to sleep
again. When Antigonos reads the letter, tell him anything he wants to
know." They had been hunting boar in the woods all day, to keep up
appearances; soon afterwards the party went off to bed, at the far end of the
big room behind a dressed hide curtain. Kassandros and Nikanor lingered by the
hearth, their soft voices muted by the stable sounds below. Nikanor was a
tall, lean, sandy-colored man; a capable soldier, who stood by the family
loyalties and feuds and looked no further. He said, "Are you sure you can
trust Antigonos? He wants more than he has, that's plain." "That's why I can
trust him. While he's stretching out in Asia, hell be glad to have Polyperchon
kept busy in Greece. He’ll leave me Macedon; he knows Asia will take him all
his time." Nikanor scratched at his head; one seemed always to pick up lice
on a hunting party. He caught one and dropped it in the fire. "Are you sure of
the girl? She'd be as dangerous as Antigonos, if she knew how. She made
trouble enough for Father, and for Perdikkas before that. But for her, Philip
would be a nothing." "M-m," said Kassandros reflectively. "That's why I asked
you to watch her while I'm gone. I told her nothing, of course. She'll take
our side, to keep out the barbarian's child. She showed me that." "Good so
far. But she's the King's wife and she means to be reigning Queen." "Yes.
With her descent, I daresay I shall need to marry her." Nikanor's pale
eyebrows rose. "And Philip?" Kassandros made a simple gesture. "I wonder,"
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said Nikanor thoughtfully, "if she'd consent to that." "Oh, I daresay not.
But when it's done, she won't settle down with the loom and the needle, it's
not in her. She'll marry me sure enough. Then she can behave herself. Or..."
He made the gesture again. Nikanor shrugged. "Then what about Thessalonike? I
thought you'd settled for her. She's Philip's daughter, not his
granddaughter." "Yes, but the blood's only on the father's side. Eurydike
first. When I'm King I can marry both. Old Philip would have made nothing of
that." "You're sure of your luck," Nikanor said uneasily. "Yes. Ever since
Babylon, I've known that my time has come." A half-month later, towards
evening on a day of mist and rain, Polyperchon came to the palace, urgently
demanding to see the King. He barely waited to be announced. Philip, with
Konon's help, was still gathering up an arrangement of his stones which he had
been elaborating all day. Eurydike, who had been waxing the leather of her
cuirass, had no time to hide that either. She looked resentfully at
Polyperchon, who bowed formally, having first saluted the King. "I've nearly
put it away," said Philip apologetically. "It was a Persian paradise." "Sir.
I must ask your presence at a council of state tomorrow." Philip looked at
him in horror. "I won't make a speech. I don't want to make a speech." "You
need not, sir; only assent when the rest have voted." "On what?" asked
Eurydike sharply. Polyperchon, a Macedonian in the old tradition, thought, A
pity Amyntas lived long enough to beget this meddlesome bitch. "Madam. We have
news that Kassandros has crossed to Asia, and that Antigonos has welcomed
him." "What?" she said, startled. "I understood he was hunting on his
estate." "That," said Polyperchon grimly, "is what he wished us to
understand. We may now understand that we are at war. Sir, please be ready at
sunup; I will come and escort you. Madam.' " He bowed, about to
depart. "Wait!" she said angrily. "With whom is Kassandros at war?" He
turned on the threshold. "With the Macedonians. They voted to obey his
father, who had thought him unfit to govern them." "I wish to attend the
council." Polyperchon jutted at her his grizzled beard. "I regret, madam.
That is not the custom of the Macedonians. I wish you good night." He strode
out. He was furious with himself for not having had Kassandros watched; but at
least he need not put up with insolence from a woman. The council of state
considered the country's dangers and found them grave. Kassandros, it was
clear, would only stay in Asia to get the forces he needed. Then he would make
for Greece. Since the last years of Philip's reign, and all through
Alexander's, the Greek states had been governed as Macedon ordained. Democrat
leaders had been exiled, the franchise confined to men of property, whose
oligarch leaders had to be pro-Macedonian. Alexander had been a long way off,
and Antipatros had had a free hand. Since his supporters had enriched
themselves at the expense of the many exiles, there had been violent
consternation when Alexander, returning from the wilderness, had ordered them
brought home and their lands restored. He had summoned the Regent to report to
him in Babylon; Kassandros had gone instead. When Alexander died, the Greeks
had risen, but Antipatros had crushed them. The cities, therefore, were still
governed by his satellites, whose support for his son would be a matter of
course. All this time, the Greek envoys were hanging about in Pella, waiting,
as they had done since the funeral, to learn the policy of the new regime
towards their various states. They were now hastily summoned, and handed a
royal proclamation. Much had been done in Greece, it said, which Alexander had
never sanctioned. They could now with the goodwill of the Kings, his heirs,
restore their democratic constitutions, expel their oligarchs, or execute them
if desired. All their citizen rights would be defended, in return for loyalty
to the Kings. Polyperchon, escorting Philip from the council chamber,
explained these decisions to Eurydike with punctilious care. Like Nikanor, he
had reflected that she had a great capacity for mischief. She should not be
idly provoked. She listened without much comment. While the council
deliberated, she too had had time for thought. "A dog came in," said Philip
as soon as his mentor had gone. "He had a great bone, a raw one. I said to
them, he must have stolen it from the kitchen." "Yes, Philip. Quiet now, I
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must think." She had guessed right, then; when Kassandros came to see her, he
had been offering her alliance. If he won this war, he would depose the child
of the barbarian, assume the guardianship, enthrone Philip and herself. He had
spoken to her as an equal. He would make her a queen. "Why," asked Philip
plaintively, "do you keep walking about?" "You must change your good robe,
you will get it dirty. Konon, are you there? Please help the King." She paced
the room with its carved windows and great painted inner wall, covered with a
life-sized mural of the sack of Troy. Agamemnon was carrying off Kassandra,
shrieking, from the sanctuary; the wooden horse loomed between the
gate-towers; in the foreground, at the household altar, Priam was lying in his
blood; Andromache clasped to her bosom her dead child. All the background was
fighting, flames and blood. It was an antique piece, the work of Zeuxis,
commissioned by Archelaos when he built the palace. About the hearth with its
worn old stones clung faded aromatic odors, a fume of ancient burnings, and
curious stains. It had been, for many years, the room of Queen Olympias. Much
magic, people used to say, had been worked in it. Her sacred snakes had had
their basket by this hearth, her spells their hiding-places. One or two were
indeed still where she had left them, for she meant to return. Eurydike only
knew that the room had a presence of its own. Striding about it, she pondered
her unspoken bargain with Kassandros, and for the first time thought, What
then? Only the child of the barbarian could beget a new generation. When he
had been driven out, she and Philip would reign alone. Who would succeed
them? Who fitter than the grandchild of Philip and Perdikkas to carry on
their line? To do that, she could put up with childbirth. For a moment she
thought shrinkingly of teaching Philip; after all, there were women in every
city who for a drachma put up with worse. But no, she could not. Besides, what
if he should sire a fool? If I were a man! she thought. On the hearth a
bright fire of dry lichened apple-wood was burning, for winter was drawing on.
The blackened stones under the fire-basket released drifts of old tainted
incense in the heat. If I were a king, I could marry twice if I chose, our
kings have often done so. A vivid recollection came to her of Kassandros'
powerful presence. He had offered to be her friend... But then, there was
Philip. For a moment, recalling that moment of silent speech, she was on the
edge of comprehension. To the last tenant of this room it would have been a
simple thing, a matter of ways and means. Eurydike felt it loom, and flinched
away from it. To see it must be to choose, yes or no, and she would not. She
only said to herself that she must be able to depend upon Kassandros, and it
was useless to think too far ahead. But the smell of the old myrrh in the
stones was like the smoke of the hidden thought, buried under the smoldering
embers, waiting its time. 318 B.C. eumenes sat in his tent on the kindly
coastland of Kilikia, looking across the sea towards Cyprus' distant hills.
The warm fruitful plain was a paradise after the cramped fort, perched on the
high Tauros, where Antigonos had kept him invested all through last winter in
the bitter mountain wind. A spring of good water, plenty of grain, and
precious little else. The men's gums had started to rot from the lack of
greenstuff; he had had hard work to stop them from eating the horses, on which
their lives might yet depend; he had kept the beasts exercised by having their
forequarters hoisted up once a day in slings, and making the grooms shout and
hit at them, so that they thrashed about and got into a sweat. He had almost
made up his mind to slaughter them when, of a sudden, Antigonos sent an envoy
to offer terms. The Regent was dead, it was every man for himself, and
Antigonos wanted an ally. He had demanded an oath of loyalty before he lifted
the siege. To Antigonos and the Kings, the envoy said. Eumenes had changed it,
in the act of swearing, to Olympias and the Kings. The envoy had let it pass.
Antigonos had not liked it; but by the time he knew of it, they had all got
out. This was as well: Eumenes had heard from Polyperchon, appointing him in
the King's name to Antigonos' command; which, since Antigonos would certainly
not resign it, he would have to get by force. Meantime, he was to take over
the provincial treasury of Kilikia, and the command of its garrison regiment,
the Silver Shields. He was now in camp with them, while they made themselves
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snug with stolen comforts, won by every devious ruse known to campaigners who
had been, many of them, fifty years under arms. None of them had been serving
for less than forty; tough, wicked old sweats whom Alexander had thought
himself well shot of, and whom even he had not rid himself of without a
mutiny. They had been his legacy from his father Philip, men of the phalanx,
wielders of the long sarissa, all of them hand-picked fighters. They had been
young men along with Philip; many were older than he would have been if he
were still alive. Now, when they should be living with their loot and
Alexander's bounty on their homeland farms, here they still were, hard as
their boot-nails, their discharge held up by the death of Krateros and their
own obdurate resistance; never yet beaten, and ready to march again. Not a
man was under sixty; most of them were past seventy; their arrogance was a
proverb; and Eumenes, a generation younger, and an alien Greek, had to take
them over. He had almost refused; but while, after the siege, he was
salvaging his scattered forces, he had a letter brought by land and sea from
Epiros. It was from Olympias. I beg you to help us. Only you, Eumenes, are
left, most loyal of all my friends, and best able to rescue our forsaken
house. I entreat you, do not fail me. Let me hear from you; shall I entrust
myself and my grandson to men who claim, one after another, to be his
guardians, and then are found planning to steal his heritage? Roxane his
mother sends me word that she fears for his life, once Polyperchon leaves
Macedon to fight the traitor Kassandros. Is it best she flies to me here,
bringing the boy; or shall I raise troops and go to Macedon? The letter had
deeply moved him. He had been still young when first he had met Olympias, and
so had she. Often in Philip's absences the Regent, who loathed her, had sent
Eumenes with messages to her, partly to slight her with his lower rank, partly
to keep out of her way. During many domestic quarrels Philip had done the
same. To the young Greek, she had a quality of archaic myth; a Bacchic
Ariadne, waiting the embrace of a Dionysos who never came. He had seen her in
tears, in savage mirth, in blazing anger and sometimes in regal grace. He had
no more desired her than one desires a splendid play of lightning over the
sea; but he had adored her. Even when he had known well that she was in the
wrong, and that he had to tell her so, he had never gone to face her without a
thrill at the heart. In fact, she had often unbent to him. He had been a
handsome young man; though she had never been able to make him her partisan or
subvert his faith to Philip, she had enjoyed his admiration. He knew she had
harassed Alexander all through Asia, pursuing her feud with the Regent; he
remembered how, handing him one such letter, her son had said. "By God, she
charges high rent for the nine-months' lodging she gave me!" But he had said
it half laughing; he, too, had loved her through everything. He had left her
still beautiful; and, like Eumenes, was never to see her old. One thing he
now knew at once: on no account must she go to Macedon, with or without an
army. She knew moderation no more than a hunting leopardess; she would not be
there a month before she destroyed her cause. He had written to her exhorting
her to stay in Epiros till the present war was settled; meantime, she could
count on his fidelity, to her and to Alexander's son. He did not refer to
Roxane and her fears. Who would say what fancies might scare the Bactrian?
During his long campaign, followed by the winter siege, he had had little news
from Europe. Since the wedding at Sardis, he had barely heard of
Eurydike. Soon Antigonos would be after him-clearly the man meant to make a
kingdom for himself in Asia- and he must be moving, with his native levies and
their stiffening, the battle-hardened Silver Shields. From his tent-opening,
he could see them now, sitting in their groupings established over half a
century, while their women made their breakfasts; Lydian women, Tyrian women,
Bactrians and Parthians and Medes and Indians, the spoils of their long
wanderings, with a few old hardy Macedonians who had come with them from home
and somehow survived. The surviving children-a third, perhaps, of those
begotten along the way-chattered softly round the cook-fires, wary of a clout
from their fathers; brown and honey-colored and fair, speaking their lingua
franca. When camp broke, the women would pack the wagon train with all its
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world-wide pickings, and march once more. On the next knoll, Eumenes could
see the tents of the two commanders, Antigonos and Teutamos; crafty and
stubborn old war-dogs, each old enough to be his father. Today he must call
them to a war council: and would they defer to him without resentment? From
wounded pride, he knew too well, comes treachery. He sighed wearily, his mind
going back to the days when he and they had not been flotsam on the stream of
history, but had proudly shaped its course. Those old sinners over there, he
thought, even they must remember. His mind had been suppled by years of
precarious survival; now it took one of those leaps which had saved him in
places tighter than this. The day was still young, the sunlight upon Cyprus
fresh and tender. He shaved, dressed himself neatly without ostentation, and
called the herald. "Sound," he said, "for the officers to assemble." He had
his slaves set out the stools and camp-chairs casually, without precedence, on
the grass. As the leathery ancients, taking their time, approached, he waved
them affably to be seated. From the chair they left for him, he rose and
addressed them standing. "Gentlemen, I have called you together to give you
serious news. I have received an omen." As he had foreseen, dead silence
fell. Old soldiers were as superstitious as sailors. They all knew what chance
can do to a man in war. “If ever the gods gave a man a powerful dream, they
gave one to me at cockcrow. A dream more real than waking. My name was called.
I knew the voice, it was Alexander's. He was in my tent, in that very chair
that you, Teutamos, are sitting on. 'Eumenes!' he said." They sat forward in
their chairs. Teutamos' gnarled hands stroked the pinewood arms as if he
touched a talisman. "I begged his pardon for sleeping in his presence, as if
he had been alive. He had on his white robe edged with purple, and a gold
diadem. 'I am holding a council of state,' he said. 'Are you all here?' And he
looked about him. Then it seemed the tent was not mine but his, the tent he
took from Darius. He was there on his throne, with the Bodyguard around him;
and you too were there, with the other generals, waiting for his words. He
leaned forward to address us; but as he began, I woke." Skilled in the arts
of rhetoric, he had tried none here. He had looked and spoken like a man
remembering something momentous. It had worked. They were looking at one
another, but not in distrust, only wondering what it meant. "I believe," he
said, "that I divined Alexander's wish. He is concerned for us. He wants to be
present at our councils. If we appeal to him, he will guide us in our
decisions." He paused for questions; but they hardly murmured. "So let us not
receive him meanly. Here we have the gold of Koyinda which you, gentlemen,
have guarded for him faithfully. Let us send for craftsmen to make him a
golden throne, a scepter and a diadem, let us dedicate a tent to him, and lay
the insignia on the throne, and offer incense to his spirit. Then we will
confer before him, making him our supreme commander." Their shrewd, scarred
faces considered him. He was not, it seemed, setting himself above them; he
was not planning to steal the treasure; if Alexander had appeared only to him,
after all he had known him well. And Alexander liked his orders obeyed. The
tent, the throne and the insignia were ready within a week. Even some purple
was found, to dye a canopy. When it was time to march towards Phoenicia, they
met in the tent to discuss the coming campaign. Before they sat down, each
offered his pinch of incense at the little portable altar, saying, "Divine
Alexander, favor us." All of them deferred to Eumenes, whose divination was
manifest around them. It did not matter that scarcely any of them had seen
Alexander enthroned. They remembered him in old leather cuirass and burnished
greaves, his helmet off for them to see him, riding along the line before an
action, reminding them of their past victories and telling them how to win
another. They did not care that the local goldsmith was not of the highest
skill. The shining of the gold, the smoke of frankincense, wakened a memory
long silted over by the weather and war and weariness of thirteen years; of a
golden chariot driving in triumph through the flower-strewn streets of
Babylon; the trumpets, the paean, the censers and the cheers. For a little
while, standing before the empty throne, it seemed to them that they might
become what they once had been. 317 B.C. the spring sun warmed the hills,
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melting the snows; first filling, then tempering the streams. Roads deep in
mud and silted with scree grew firm again. The land opened to
war. Kassandros, with the fleet and army Antigonos had lent him, crossed the
Aegean and landed at Piraeus, the port of Athens. Before his father was dead,
he had sent a man of his own to take command of the Macedonian garrison in the
harbor fort. While the Athenians were still discussing the royal decree and
the offer of their ancient liberties, they found that the garrison had come
down and occupied the harbor. Kassandros had sailed in
unopposed. Polyperchon, getting this news, despatched advance troops under
his son Alexandros. The campaign hung fire; he prepared to set out himself.
When he began to mobilize, he came to the palace to see King Philip. Eurydike
received him with the offerings of formal hospitality; she was resolved to
have her presence recognized. Polyperchon, as formally, asked after both their
health, listened to Philip's account of a cockfight to which Konon had lately
taken him, and then said, "Sir. I have come to tell you that we shall soon be
marching south together. The traitor Kassandros must be dealt with. We shall
start in seven days. Please tell your people to have your baggage ready. I
will see your man about your horses." Philip nodded cheerfully. He had been
on the march for nearly half his life, and took it as a matter of course. He
did not understand what the war was about; but Alexander had seldom told him.
"I shall ride Whitefoot," he said. "Eurydike, which horse will you
ride?" Polyperchon cleared his throat. "Sir, this is a campaign. The lady
Eurydike will of course remain at Pella." "But I can take Konon?" said Philip
anxiously. "By all means, sir." Polyperchon did not look that way. There was
a pause. He awaited the storm. But in fact Eurydike said nothing. It had
never occurred to her that she could be left behind. She had looked forward to
the escape from the tedium of the palace to the freedom of the camp. In the
first moment of learning that she had been relegated to the women's rooms she
had been as angry as Polyperchon had expected, and had been on the point of
protest, when there came into her mind Kassandros' unspoken message. How could
she influence affairs, trailing along with the army, watched at every turn?
But here at home, with the guardian away at war… She swallowed her anger at
being so belittled, and held her peace. Afterwards, she found a lingering hurt
that Philip had found Konon more necessary than her. After all I have done for
him, she thought. Polyperchon meantime was at the other end of the palace.
Here were the quarters where the elder Philip had moved, when he ceased to
share the great bedchamber with Olympias. They were handsome enough to satisfy
Roxane, and her son did not complain of them. They opened onto an old orchard
where he liked to play now that the days grew warmer. The plum-trees were
already budding, and the grass smelled of hidden violets. "Considering his
tender years and need of his mother," Polyperchon said, "I shall not expose
the King to the hardships of the march. In any treaties I may sign or edicts I
may issue, his name will of course appear with King Philip's, as if he were
present too." "So," said Roxane, "Philip will go with you?" "Yes; he is a
grown man, it will be expected." "Then his wife will go to care for him?" Her
voice had sharpened. "No, madam. War is not women's business." She opened her
black eyes till the clear white showed all round. "Then," she cried, "who will
protect my son and me?" What could the foolish woman mean? He brought down
his brows in irritation, and answered that Macedon would be left well
garrisoned. "Macedon? Here, in this house, who will protect us from that
she-wolf? She will only wait to see you gone before she murders us." "Madam,"
he said testily, "we are not now in the wilds of Asia. The Queen Eurydike is a
Macedonian and will obey the law. Even if she wished otherwise, she would not
dare touch the son of Alexander. The people would have her blood." He left,
thinking, Women! They make war seem a holiday. The thought consoled him among
his cares. Since the new decree, nearly all the Greek cities were in a state
of civil war, or on the verge of it; the coming campaign promised every kind
of confusion and uncertainty. Roxane's notion that he would add to his
troubles by taking that termagant girl along was enough to make a man
laugh. A week later the army marched. From the balcony of the great
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bedchamber, Eurydike had watched the troops assemble on the great drill-field
where Philip and Alexander had trained their men; had seen the long column
wind slowly down alongside the lagoon, making for the coast road to the
south. As the lumbering baggage train began to follow the soldiers, she
looked about her at the horizons of the land she still meant to rule. Over the
near hills was her father's house where Kynna had taught her war. She would
keep it for her hunting-lodge, her private place, when she was Queen. She
looked down idly at the grandiose front of the palace with its painted
pediment and columns of colored marble. On the broad steps the tutor Kebes
came down, the child Alexander beside him, trailing a wooden hobby-horse by
its scarlet bridle. The child of the barbarian, who must not reign. How would
Kassandros deal with that? She frowned. Roxane behind her curtains grew weary
of watching wagons, a sight too long familiar. Her eyes wandered. There on a
balcony, brazenly showing herself to the world like a harlot looking for
trade, stood Philip's mannish wife. What was she staring at so fiercely?
Roxane's ear caught the sound of her own child's piping chatter. Yes, it was
at him that she was looking! Swiftly, Roxane made the sign against the evil
eye, and ran to her casket. Where was the silver charm her mother had given
her against the malice of harem rivals? He must put it on. A letter was beside
it, with the royal seal of Epiros. She reread it, and knew what she must
do. Kebes proved easy to persuade. The times were doubtful; so was his own
future. He could well believe that the son of Alexander was in danger, and not
only from his mother's spoiling. He had softened to Roxane; she might need
protection too. It was eleven years since her beauty had hit Alexander like a
fiery arrow across a torchlit hall; but her looks had been tended, her legend
lived in them still. It seemed to the young man that he too could enter the
legend, rescuing the woman Alexander had loved, and his only child. It was he
who chose the litter-bearers and the armed escort of four; who swore them to
secrecy, who bought the mules, who found a messenger to ride ahead with news
of their coming. Two days later, just before dawn, they were on the mountain
road making for Dodona. The royal house had a steep-pitched roof to throw off
the winter snows. Roofs in Molossia gave no platform for watchers. Olympias
stood in the window of the King's bedchamber, which she had taken when her
daughter left it. Her eyes were fixed on a curl of smoke from the nearest
hilltop. On three heights in an eastward line she had had beacons laid, to
signal the approach of her daughter-in-law and grandson. Now she sent for the
captain of the palace guard, and ordered him to meet them with an
escort. Olympias had assented to her age. In the month of mourning for
Alexander she had washed the paint from her face, and covered her hair with a
dark veil. When the month was over, and she put the veil away, her hair was
silky white. She was sixty, and lean where she had been slim. Her fine
redhead's skin was brittle like pressed petals; but lacking color the proud
bone showed more. Under their white brows, the smoky grey eyes could still
pale dangerously. She had waited long for this day. As the emptiness of loss
came home to her, she had craved to touch this last living vestige of him; but
the child was unborn, there was no remedy for waiting. With the wars' delays,
her longing dulled and earlier doubts returned. The mother was a barbarian, a
campaign wife, whose son he had meant to pass over-in a secret letter he had
told her so-if the Great King's daughter had borne a boy. Would anything
remain of him in this stranger? When the child reached Macedon, her feud with
Antipatros had left her only two ways to go back there, submission or war.
The first was unthinkable: against the second Eumenes, on whom she must
depend, had warned her. Then Roxane had written begging for a refuge, and she
had answered, "Come." Next day the cavalcade arrived; the tough Molossian
troopers on their shaggy ponies, two disheveled waiting-women on stumbling
donkeys, a covered litter with its mules. Her eyes on the litter, she did not
see at first the young man who carried across his horse's withers a
six-year-old boy. He lifted him down and spoke to him quietly, pointing.
Resolutely, on legs more a boy's than a child's, he walked up the steps, gave
her a soldier's salute, and said, "May you live, Grandmother. I am
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Alexander." She took him between her hands while the company made respectful
gestures, and kissed his brow, dirty with travel, and looked again. Kebes had
fulfilled his trust. Alexander's son was no longer the podgy nursling of the
harem tent. Olympias saw a beautiful young Persian, fine-boned and dark-eyed.
The hair was cut sloping to the nape, as Alexander used to wear it, but it was
straight, heavy, and raven-black. He looked up at her from under his fine dark
brows and his blue-brown, thick-lashed eyelids; and though there was nothing
of him anywhere that was Macedonian, she saw Alexander in his upward, deep-set
gaze. It was too much, it took her a few moments to gather herself together.
Then she took his pale slender hand. "Welcome, my child. Come, bring me to
your mother." The roads from Pella down into Greece had been smoothed since
old Philip's reign for the swift march of armies. The roads to the west were
rough. Despite the difference in distance, therefore, it was at about the same
time that Polyperchon in the Peloponnese, and Olympias in Dodona, got news
from Macedon that Eurydike had assumed the regency. Polyperchon got, in
addition, an order signed by her, directing him to hand over to Kassandros the
Macedonian forces in the south. Speechless for a while, the old soldier kept
his head, offered the courier wine without disclosing the message, and asked
for news. It seemed that the Queen had called Assembly, and addressed it with
great spirit. The barbarian woman, she told them, had fled the land with her
child, fearing the anger of the Macedonians; she would do well not to return.
All who had known Alexander would testify that the child looked nothing like
him. He had died before the birth, had never acknowledged the infant; there
was no proof that he was the father. Whereas she herself had on both sides the
Macedonian royal blood. For a time, Assembly had been in doubt. But Nikanor,
Kassandros' brother, had given her his voice and the whole clan had come in
with him. That had carried the vote. She was now giving audiences, receiving
envoys and petitioners, and in all ways acting as reigning Queen. Polyperchon
thanked the man, rewarded and dismissed him, cursed to relieve his feelings,
and sat down to think. He quickly decided what he himself would do; and, soon
afterwards, what to do with Philip. He had had hopes of him, if he could be
removed from his wife's control; but had soon learned better. At first, he had
been so docile that it had seemed safe to produce him, set up impressively on
a gold-canopied throne, for a delegation from Athens. In the midst of a speech
he had guffawed at a rhetorical trope which, like a child, he had taken
literally. Later, when Polyperchon had rebuked a speaker, the King had grabbed
at his ceremonial spear; if Polyperchon had not grappled with him in front of
everyone, the man would have been run through. "You said," he had protested,
"that he told lies." The delegation had been dismissed too hastily, causing a
political disaster and costing some lives. It was now clear to Polyperchon
that all Philip was good for was to hold the throne for Alexander's son, who
had better come of age quickly. As for Eurydike, her claim was plain
usurpation. Konon came when sent for, saluting woodenly. His silent "I told
you so" had irked Polyperchon after the incident of the spear and several
others. Good riddance to both of them. "I have decided," he said, "to send
back the King to Macedon." "Sir." The general felt, reverberating from this
blank surface, knowledge that the campaign had gone badly, that he had had to
raise the important siege of Megalopolis, that Kassandros still held the
Piraeus and might well get Athens, in which event the Greek cities would join
him. But that was irrelevant now. "I will give you an escort. Tell the Queen
that I am sending back the King in obedience to her wishes. That is
all." "Sir." Konon left, relieved. He could have told them all beforehand, if
he had been asked. Now, he thought, they would all have a chance to live in
peace. At a massive table of inlaid hardstone with lion-feet of gilded
bronze, Eurydike sat in the royal study. King Archelaos, nearly a century ago,
had designed this splendid sanctum when he built the palace to stun foreigners
with its magnificence. From it, whenever they were at home, Philip the Second
had ruled Macedon and his spreading conquests, and Alexander had ruled all
Greece. Since Alexander had gone to rule the world from a moving tent, no king
had sat at the table under Zeuxis' mural of Apollo and the Muses. Antipatros,
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rigidly correct, had governed from his own house. She had found everything
swept, polished, scrupulously neat, and empty. It had awaited a tenant for
seventeen years, as long as she had lived. Now it was hers. When she called
Assembly to claim the regency, she had not told Nikanor of what she meant to
do. She had guessed he would think it rash, but that confronted with the fact
he would support her, sooner than hurt his brother's cause. She had thanked
him afterwards, but had fended off his efforts to advise her. She meant to
rule for herself. Awaiting news from the south, she had spent most of her
time on what she most enjoyed, exercising the army. She felt, at last, that
she was fulfilling her true destiny when she rode along a line of cavalry, or
took the salute of the phalanx presenting their great sarissas. She had seen a
good deal of army drill and talked to many soldiers; she knew all the
procedure. They were amused and delighted with her. After all, they thought,
they were just a garrison army; if there was action the generals would of
course resume command. Taking this for granted, they performed for her
indulgently. Her fame was spreading, Eurydike, the warrior Queen of Macedon.
One day she would strike her own coinage. She was tired of seeing the eager
long-nosed face of Alexander hooded in his lion-skin. Let Herakles give place
to Athene, Lady of Citadels. Each day she waited to hear whether Polyperchon
had surrendered his command to Kassandros as she had ordered. So far she had
heard from neither. Instead, unheralded, Philip returned to Pella. He carried
no despatches and did not know where his guardian was going next. He was
delighted to be home, and ran on at length about his adventures on campaign,
though all he knew of the debacle at Megalopolis was that the wicked people in
the fort had put down spikes to hurt the elephants' feet. Even so, had she had
patience to listen to his ramblings she might have learned something of value.
He had been present, as a matter of form, at several councils from which Konon
was excluded. But she was busy, and answered him with half her mind. She
seldom asked where he was; Konon took him about and amused him. She had ceased
to issue orders in his name, and used only her own. Until just lately,
everything had gone smoothly. She understood the disputes of Macedon, nearly
all brought by petitioners in person. But suddenly, all at once, a flood of
business was coming in from the south, even from Asia. It had not yet occurred
to her that all these matters had been going to Polyperchon, who had dealt
with them in Philip's name. Now, Philip was here; and Polyperchon, for good
reasons, was no longer accessible. She looked with dismay at petitions from
towns and provinces she had never heard of, seeking judgments on land claims;
reports on delinquent, distant officials; long obscure letters from priests of
temples founded by Alexander, seeking guidance about rituals; reports from
Asian satraps on the encroachments of Antigonos; passionate protests from
pro-Macedonians of Greek cities, exiled or dispossessed under the new decree.
Often she had trouble even in reading the script with its many contractions.
Turning over in helpless bewilderment this heap of documents, she reflected
unwillingly that it must be a fraction of what Alexander had dealt with in an
army camp, in the restbreaks of conquering an empire. The chief secretary,
who knew all this business, had gone south with Polyperchon, leaving only a
subordinate at Pella. She would have to send for this underling and try to
hide her ignorance. She rang the silver bell with which, long ago, her
grandfather had summoned Eumenes. She waited. Where was the man? She rang
again. Urgent muttering voices sounded outside the door. The secretary came
in, shaken, without apology for delay, without asking her what she wanted. She
saw fear in his face, and the resentment of a frightened man towards someone
who cannot help. "Madam. There is an army on the western border." She sat up
with brightening eyes. The border wars were the ancient proving-ground of the
Macedonian kings. Already she saw herself in arms, leading the cavalry. "The
Illyrians? Where have they crossed?" "Madam, no. From the southwest. From
Epiros. Won't you see the messenger? He says Polyperchon is leading
them." She straightened in her chair, her pride answering his fear. "Yes, I
will see him. Bring him in." It was a soldier, anxious and dusty, from a
garrison fort on the Orestid hills. He begged pardon, his horse had gone lame,
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he had had to come on by mule, a poor beast, all he could get. It had lost him
a day. He gave her the despatch from his commander, shocked to discover how
very young she was. Polyperchon was on the border, announcing by heralds that
he had come to restore Alexander's son. He was in the country of his clan and
kindred, and many of them had joined him. From the fort itself there had,
unhappily been some desertions, and the post was gravely undermanned. Between
the lines, she read the intention to surrender. She sent the man out, and sat
looking before her. On the far side of the room stood a bronze youth looking
back, a Hermes, holding a lyre. He stood on a plinth of green marble, Attic,
poised; his gravity seeming stern to an eye used to modern prettiness. A
subtle melancholy in his face had once made her ask an old palace steward who
he was. Some athlete, said the old man, done by Polykleitos the Athenian; he
had heard it was during the great siege when the Spartans had won the war, and
Athens was broken. No doubt King Archelaos' agents had picked it up cheaply
afterwards; there was a great deal, then, to be had for very little. The
bronze face gazed at her with eyes of dark-blue lapis laid into white glass,
between lashes of fine bronze wire. They seemed to say, "Listen. I heard the
footsteps of Fate." She got to her feet, confronting him. "You lost. But I am
going to win." Presently she would give orders to raise the army and prepare
to march. But first she must write to Kassandros and call him to her
aid. Travel to the south was quick. Her letter reached him in three days. He
was camped before a stubborn fort in Arkadia. That dealt with, he planned to
reduce the Spartans, those relics of an outworn past. They had come down to
walling their city, that proud open town whose only bulwark had been its
warriors' shields. Their soul was cowed, they would soon be under his
hand. Athens had made terms and had let him appoint its governor. The officer
who had taken the Piraeus for him had expected the post; but he had been
looking too ambitious, and Kassandros had had him disposed of in a dark alley.
The new governor was a harmless, obedient client. Soon, thought Kassandros, he
must visit the Lyceum. There was a great deal to be done there. Eurydike's
appointment of him as supreme commander, though too precipitate, had helped to
sway many wavering Greek allegiances. Even some who had killed their oligarchs
and restored democracy were now thinking again. He would be glad to finish
with the south; he was interested in war only as an instrument of policy. He
was not a coward, he could get his orders obeyed, he was a competent
strategist, and that was all. Deep in his being, burned there since his youth,
was a bitter envy of Alexander's magic. No one would cheer himself hoarse for
Kassandros, no one be proud to die for him; his men would do what they were
paid to do. That vain tragedian, he thought; let us see how he looks to the
new age. The news that Polyperchon was withdrawing his forces and heading
north had been no great surprise. He was old and tired and a loser; let him go
home with his tail between his legs, and bed down in his kennel. Eurydike's
despatch, therefore, had been a rude shock to him. The stupid, reckless girl,
he thought. Had this been the time to denounce Alexander's brat? He fully
intended, once Philip was out of the way, to govern at first as the boy's
regent. There would be plenty of time before he came of age. Now, instead of
biding the hour, as anyone would who had the beginning of statecraft, she had
flung the country into a succession war. Did she know no history? One of her
family should have remembered better than that. Kassandros reached a
decision. He had made a bad bargain and must get it off his hands, quickly,
like an unsound horse. Afterwards, everything would be simpler. He sat down
to write a letter to his brother Nikanor. With banners and standards
streaming, with shrill flutes and the deep-toned aulos giving the time, the
royal army of Macedon marched through the high western hills towards
Epiros. Summer had come. The thyme and sage bruised by the tramping feet
censed them with aromatics; the uncurled bracken stood waist-high; heather and
sorrel purpled the moors. The burnished helmets, the dyed horsehair plumes,
the little bright pennants on the tall sarissas, glittered and glowed in long
streams of moving color, winding down through the passes. Herd-boys on the
crags cried the warning that soldiers were coming, and called their little
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brothers to help drive in the sheep. Eurydike in burnished armor rode at the
head of the cavalry. The heady air of the hills exalted her; the wide
prospects from the heights stretched before her like worlds to conquer. She
had always known that this was her nature and her fate, to ride to victory
like a king, her land behind her and her horsemen at her side. She had her
Companions as a ruler of Macedon should. Before she marched she had made it
known that when the war was won the lands of the western traitors would reward
her loyal followers. Not far off, led by Nikanor, rode the clan of the
Antipatrids, a hearteningly solid force. Their chief had not appeared, nor
sent her word. Clearly, as Nikanor said, some misadventure had overtaken her
messenger. It would be better to send again, and she had done so. Then, too,
the troops in the Peloponnese were often on the move, and that might have
caused delay. At all events, said Nikanor, he himself was doing as he knew
Kassandros would wish. Philip on his big steady horse was riding near by; he,
also, panoplied for war. He was still the King, and the troops would expect to
see him. Soon, when they came near the enemy, he must be settled in a
base-camp out of the way. He was placid and cheerful, traveling with an army;
he could hardly remember when this had not been his life. Konon was with him,
riding as usual half a length behind. Philip had wanted him alongside, the
better to talk about the sights upon the way; but Konon, as usual, had said it
would not be proper before the men. Dimly, after the years, Philip still
missed the days of strangeness and changing marvels, when his life had moved
with the journeys of Alexander. Konon had withdrawn into his thoughts. He,
too, could have wished for Alexander, and for more urgent reasons. Ever since
his young master Arridaios had become King Philip, he had known that the time
would come which was coming now, had felt it in his bones. Well, he thought,
it was an old proverb, not to look back at the end. He was nearly sixty, and
few men lived longer. A rider showed briefly on the crest of the ridge ahead.
A scout, he thought; had the girl seen? He looked at Philip ambling along, a
half-smile on his broad face, enjoying some pleasant fantasy. She ought to
take more thought for him. Supposing... Eurydike had seen. She too, long
before this, had sent out scouts. They were overdue; she sent off two more.
The army moved on, bright, burnished, the flutes giving the time. Presently,
when they reached the next ridge, she herself would ride up and survey the
terrain. That, she knew, was the duty of a general. If the enemy was in sight
she would study his dispositions, then hold a war council and dispose her
troops. Derdas, her second in command-a new promotion, so many of the higher
ranks had marched with Polyperchon-rode up to her, young, lank-limbed,
frowning with responsibility. "Eurydike, the scouts ought to be back; they may
have been taken. Shouldn't we make sure of the high ground? We may be needing
it." "Yes." It had seemed that the gallant march in the fresh morning would
go on till she herself chose to end it. "We will lead with the cavalry, and
hold it till the infantry comes up. Form them up, Derdas; you take the left
wing, and of course I shall take the right." She was issuing further orders,
when a harsh, peremptory cough sounded at her elbow. She turned, startled and
put out. "Madam," said Konon. "What about the King?" She clicked her tongue
impatiently; far better to have left him behind at Pella. "Oh, take him back
to the wagon train. Have a tent set up there." "Will there be a battle?"
Philip had come up, looking interested and eager. "Yes," she said quietly,
mastering her irritation before the onlookers. "Go to the camp now, and wait
till we come back." "Must I, Eurydike?" A sudden urgency disturbed Philip's
placid face. "I’ve never been in a battle. Alexander never let me. None of
them let me. Please let me fight in this one. Look, here's my sword." "No,
Philip, not today." She motioned to Konon; but he did not move. He had been
watching his master's face; now he looked into hers. There was a short
silence. He said, "Madam. If the King wishes. Maybe it would be best." She
stared at him, at his sorrowful and sober eyes. Understanding, she caught her
breath. "How dare you? If there were time I would have you flogged for
insolence. I will see you later. Now obey your orders." Philip hung his head.
He saw that he had misbehaved, and everyone was angry. They would not beat
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him; but the memory of ancient beatings moved in his mind. "I'm sorry," he
said. "I hope you win the battle. Alexander always did. Goodbye." She did not
look after him as he went. Her favorite horse was led up, snorting and
tossing its head, full of high spirits. She patted the strong neck, grasped
the tough mane on the withers, and vaulted with her spear onto the scarlet
saddle-cloth. The herald stood near, his trumpet at the ready, waiting to
sound the advance. "Wait!" she said. "First I will address the men." He gave
the brief flourish for attention. One of the officers, who had been watching
the ridge ahead, began to speak; but the trumpet drowned it. "Men of
Macedon!" Her clear voice carried as it had on the march from Egypt, at
Triparadisos, at the Assembly where they had voted her the regency. Battle was
near; let them only be worthy of their fame. "If you were brave fighting
against foreign enemies, how much more gloriously you will fight now,
defending your land, your wives, your..." Something was wrong. They were not
hostile; they were simply not attending, staring past her, speaking to one
another. Suddenly, young Derdas, gravity changed to urgency, grasped her
horse's headstall, wheeled it round to face forward, and shouted, "Look!" All
along the crest of the ridge ahead, a dark dense bristle had sprouted. It was
thick with spears. The armies faced each other across the valley. Down at the
bottom was a stream, low now in summer, but with a wide bed of stones and
boulders bared by winter scour. The horsemen on both sides looked at it with
distaste. The western rise which the Epirote army commanded was higher than
the Macedonian position. If their full strength was on view, however, they
were outnumbered three to two on foot, though somewhat stronger in
cavalry. Eurydike, standing on an outcrop to survey the field, pointed this
out to Derdas. The enemy flanks were on broken, brushy ground which would
favor infantry. "Yes," he said, "if they let our infantry get there.
Polyperchon may be no"-he just stopped himself from saying Alexander-"but he
knows better than that." The old man could be clearly seen on the opposite
slope, in a clump of horsemen, conferring. Eurydike's men pointed him out to
one another, not feeling him a great menace in himself, but bringing the
comfortless thought that they were about to fight old comrades. "Nikanor."
(He had left his contingent to join the council of war.) "There is still no
signal from the beacon?" He shook his head. The beacon had been laid on a
peak behind them, commanding a view of the southern pass. "Without a doubt
Kassandros would be here, if something had not prevented him. Perhaps he has
been attacked upon the march. You know the confusion in the Greek states,
thanks to Polyperchon." Derdas made no comment. He did not like Nikanor's
disposition of his men, but this was no time to say so. Eurydike stood on the
tall flat rock, shading her eyes to look across at the enemy. In her bright
helmet and gold-studded cuirass, her knee-high kilt of scarlet wool above her
shining greaves, she looked a gallant figure. Derdas thought to himself that
she looked like a boy actor in a play, masked to enact the young Achilles at
Aulis. It was she, however, who first saw the herald. He emerged from the
knot around Polyperchon, and rode down towards them; unarmed, bareheaded, with
a white wool fillet round his grey hair, carrying a white rod bound with
olive; a man with presence. At the stream-bed he dismounted, to let his horse
pick its way over the stones. Having crossed, he walked a few paces forward
and waited. Eurydike and Derdas came down to meet him. She turned to Nikanor
to join them, but he had disappeared into the mass. The herald had voice as
well as presence, and the curve of the slope threw up his words like the
hollow bowl of a theater. "To Philip son of Philip, to Eurydike his wife, and
to all the Macedonians!" He sat at ease on his strong stocky horse, a ward of
the gods, protected by immemorial custom. "In the name of Polyperchon,
guardian of both the Kings." He paused, just long enough for suspense. "Also,"
he added slowly, "in the name of Queen Olympias, daughter of King Neoptolemos
of Molossia; wife of Philip, King of the Macedonians; and mother of
Alexander." In the silence, a dog could be heard to bark in a village half a
mile away. "I am charged to say this to the Macedonians. Philip found you
pressed by enemies and torn with civil wars. He gave you peace, reconciled
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your factions, and made you masters of all Greece. And by Queen Olympias
herself he was the father of Alexander, who made the Macedonians masters of
the world. She asks you, have you forgotten all these benefits, that you will
drive out Alexander's only son? Will you take up arms against Alexander's
mother?" He had thrown his voice past Eurydike and her staff, to the silent
ranks of men. When he ceased, he wheeled round his mount, and
pointed. Another rider was coming from the group above. On a black horse, in
a black robe and veil, Olympias paced slowly down towards the stream. She
rode astride, in a wide skirt that fell to the tops of her crimson
riding-boots. The headstall of her horse glittered with gold rosettes and
silver plaques, the spoils of Susa and Persepolis. She herself wore no
ornaments. A little way above the stream, where she could be seen by everyone,
and where Eurydike had to look up to her, she drew rein and threw back the
dark veil from her white hair. She said nothing. Her deep-set grey eyes swept
the hushed murmuring ranks. Eurydike was aware of the distant gaze pausing
upon her. A light breeze floated back the black veil, stirred the horse's long
mane and ruffled the snowy hair. The face was still. Eurydike felt a shiver go
through her. It was like being glanced at by Atropos, the third Fate, who cuts
the thread. The herald, who had been forgotten, now suddenly raised his loud
voice again. "Macedonians! There before you is the mother of Alexander. Will
you fight against her?" There was a pause, like the pause of a rearing wave
before it topples to break. Then a new sound began. It was a slight rapping,
at first, of wood on metal. Then it was a spreading rattle, a mounting beat;
then, echoing back from along the hillside, a thunderous drumming, the banging
of thousands of spear-shafts upon shields. With a united roar the royal army
cried, "No!" Eurydike had heard it before, though never so loudly. It had
greeted her when she was voted Regent. For many long seconds, she thought they
were defying the enemy, that the shouting was for her. Across the stream,
Olympias raised her arm in a regal gesture of acknowledgment. Then, with a
beckoning movement, she turned her horse. She moved up the hill like a leader
of warriors, who need not look back to be sure that they will follow. As she
went up in triumph, the whole prospect on the opposite slope fragmented. The
royal army drawn up in its formations, the phalanx, the cavalry, the
light-armed skirmishers, ceased to be an army, as a village struck by an
earthquake ceases to be a street. There was just a mass of men, with horses
heaving about among them; shouting to each other, gravitating to groups of
friends or clansmen; the whole united only in a single disordered movement,
going like landslide pebbles down towards the stream. Eurydike was
overwhelmed in it. When she began to shout orders, to exhort them, she was
scarcely heard. Men jostled her unnoticing; those who saw her did not meet her
eyes. Her horse grew restive in the crush and reared, she was afraid of being
thrown and trampled. An officer thrust through to her, held the horse and
quieted it. She knew him, he was one of her partisans from the very first days
in Egypt, a man about thirty, light-haired, with a skin still yellowed from
some Indian fever. He looked at her with concern. Here at last, she thought,
was a man in his right mind. "How can we rally them?" she cried. "Can you find
me a trumpeter? We must call them back!" He ran his hand over the horse's
sweating neck. Slowly, like a man explaining something simple to a child,
which even a child must see, he said, "But, madam. That is Alexander's
mother." "Traitor!" She knew it was unjust, her anger belonged elsewhere. She
had seen, at last, her real enemy. Not the terrible old woman on the black
horse; she could be terrible only because of him, the glowing ghost, the
lion-maned head on the silver drachmas, directing her fate from his golden
bier. "There's no help for it," said the man, forbearingly, but with little
time to spare for her. "You don't understand. You see, you never knew
him." For a moment she grasped her sword; but one cannot kill a ghost. The
jostling press below was beginning to cross the stream. Names were shouted, as
the soldiers of Polyperchon welcomed back old friends. He sighted a brother
in the crush, and gave an urgent wave, before turning back to her. "Madam, you
were too young, that's all. You made a good try of it, but... There's not a
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man wishes you harm. You've a fresh horse there. Make for the hills before her
people cross over." "No!" she said. "Nikanor and the Antipatrids are over
there on the left. Come, we'll join them and fall back and hold Black Pass.
They'll never make peace with Olympias." He followed her eyes. "They won't do
that. But they're off, you see." She saw, then, that the force on the
heathery rise was moving. Its shining shields were facing the other way. Its
head was dipping already over the skyline. She looked round. The man had
sought his brother, and vanished down the hill. Dismounting, she held her
horse, the only living thing that would still obey her. As the man had said,
she was young. The despair she felt was not the grim resignation of Perdikkas,
paying the price of failure. Both had played for power and lost; but Perdikkas
had never put his stake upon love. She stood by the fretting horse, her throat
choking, her eyes blinded with tears. "Eurydike, come, hurry." A little
group, some of her court, had found its way to her. Wiping her eyes, she saw
they were not defiant but afraid; marked men all of them, old allies of
Antipatros, who had thwarted Olympias' intrigues, had intrigued against her,
had crossed her will and wounded her pride and helped drive her out of
Macedon. "Quickly," they said. "Look, that cavalry there, those are
Molossians, they're heading this way, it is you they will be looking for.
Quickly, come." She galloped with them cross-country, cutting the corners of
the rutted road, letting her horse pick its line over the heath; thinking how
Nikanor had said that he was doing as he knew his brother would wish;
remembering Kassandros' red hair and inflexible pale eyes. No messenger from
her had fallen among thieves; he had had her cry for help, and decided she was
expendable. On the shoulder of the next hill they stopped to breathe their
horses, and looked back. "Ah!" said one of them. "That was what they were
after, to loot the baggage train. There they are at it; so much the better for
us." They looked again; and there was a silence which no one liked to break.
In the distance they saw, among the wagons, a single tent with men surrounding
it. A small far-off figure was being led outside. Eurydike realized that from
the moment when Olympias had appeared and her army melted, she had forgotten
Philip entirely. They made their way east towards Pella, avoiding the look of
fugitives as best they could, using for hospitality the mesh of
guest-friendship that webbed every Greek land, excusing by their haste their
lack of servants. They kept ahead of the news, pretending that a treaty had
been signed upon the border, that they were hurrying to Pella to call Assembly
and confirm the terms which the army in the west had agreed to. In this way
they lodged for several nights, and left each morning aware of a cloud of
doubt. Nearing Pella, she glimpsed the tall keep of her father's house. With
unbearable longing she remembered the quiet years with Kynna, the small boyish
adventures and heroic dreams, before she entered the great theater of history,
to enact a tragedy in which no god came down at last from the machine to
vindicate Zeus' justice. From her childhood on she had been given her role and
taught her lines and shown the mask she must wear. But the poet was dead, and
the audience had booed the play. At Mieza, they passed an old manor whose
overgrown gardens scented the warm air with roses. Someone said that this was
the schoolhouse where Aristotle had taught many years ago. Yes, she thought
bitterly; and now his boys were ranging the earth to pick up the leavings of
their school-fellow, who, grasping at power to serve a use beyond it, had put
his stake upon love and swept the board. They dared not enter Pella. They had
only traveled at their own horses' pace; a courier with remounts on the way
could have been there long before them, and they could not be sure of the
garrison after the news from the western army. One of her suite, a certain
Polykles, was brother to the commandant of Amphipolis, an old stronghold near
the Thracian border. He would help them to get away by sea. Henceforward they
must try not to be seen. Their arms discarded, wearing homespun bartered for
with peasants, they nursed their weary horses, skirting the great timeworn
road that had carried Darius the Great towards Marathon, Xerxes to Salamis,
Philip to the Hellespont and Alexander to Babylon. One by one, pleading
sickness, or just disappearing in the night, her small company fell away. On
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the third day, there was only Polykles. From a long way off they saw the
great keep of Amphipolis, commanding the mouth of the Strymon River. There was
a ferry there; troops were there also. They turned inland to seek the nearest
ford. But at the ford, too, they were awaited. When they brought her into
Pella, she asked them to untie her feet, which were bound under the mule she
rode, to let her wash and comb her hair. They replied that Queen Olympias had
ordered her brought just as she was. On the low hill above the town stood
what looked at first like a thicket of stunted trees, laden with birds. When
they came near, ravens and crows and kites rose, angrily cawing, from the
branches. It was Gallows Hill, where the corpses of criminals were nailed up
after execution, like vermin in a gamekeeper's larder. Philip's murderer had
hung there once. The present corpses were no longer to be recognized-the
scavengers had fed well-but their names had been painted on boards nailed at
their feet. nikanor son of antipatros, one board said. There were more than a
hundred crosses; the reek almost reached the town. In the audience hall, on
the throne where Eurydike had heard petitioners and envoys, Olympias was
seated. She had changed her black robes and was dressed in crimson, with a
gold diadem in her head. Beside her on a chair of state sat Roxane, the young
Alexander on a stool at her knee. He stared with round dark eyes at Eurydike
when she was led in, unkempt and dirty, with fetters on her legs and
wrists. The irons had been forged to restrain strong men. Her wrists with
their dead weight hung down before her. She could only walk by sliding each
foot in turn along the floor, and every step chafed her ankles. To keep the
fetters from tripping her, she had to walk with an ungainly straddle. But she
held her head high as she shuffled towards the throne. Olympias nodded to one
of the guards. He gave Eurydike a hard shove in the back; she toppled forward,
bruising her chained hands. Struggling to her knees she looked up at the
faces. Some had laughed; the child had laughed with them, but was suddenly
grave. Roxane was still smiling. Olympias watched under dropped lids,
intently, like the cat that waits for the caught mouse to move. She said to
the guard, "Is this slut the woman who claims to be Queen of Macedon?" He
assented, woodenly. "I do not believe you. You must have found her in the
harbor stews. You, woman. What is your name?" Eurydike thought, I am alone.
No one wishes me courage or will praise it. Any courage I have is for me,
alone. She said, "I am Eurydike, the daughter of Amyntas son of
Perdikkas." Olympias turned to Roxane, and said conversationally, "The father
a traitor, the mother a barbarian's bastard." She stayed on her knees; if she
tried to rise, her weighted wrists would pull her over. "And yet, your son the
King chose me to marry his brother." Olympias' face tautened with an old
anger; the flesh seemed to grow dense. "I see he did well. The trull is well
matched with the fool. We will keep you apart no longer." She turned to the
guards and for the first time smiled. Eurydike could see why she did it
seldom; one of her front teeth was black. The guards seemed to blink before
they saluted. "Go," she said. "Take her to the marriage chamber." When she
had toppled twice trying to rise, the guards set her on her feet. She was led
to the rear courts of the palace. Dragging her fetters, she passed the
stables, and heard her horses whinny; the kennels, where the deep-voiced
hounds she had hunted with barked at the foreign sound of her weighted
footsteps. The guards did not hustle or harry her. They walked awkwardly at
her dragging pace; once, when she tripped over a rut, one of them caught her
to keep her from falling; but they did not look at her or speak to one
another. Today or tomorrow, or soon, she thought; what matter? She felt death
present in her flesh, its certainty like a sickness. Ahead was a low-walled
stone hut with a pointed roof of thatch. A stink came from it; a privy, she
thought, or perhaps a sty. They steered her towards it. A muffled sobbing
sounded from within. They lifted the crossbar from the rough timber door. One
of them peered into the fetid gloom. "Here's your wife, then." The sobbing
ceased. They waited to see if she would go in without being forced. She
stooped under the low lintel; the roof inside was hardly higher, the thatch
pricked her head. The door closed behind her, the crossbar clattered
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back. "Oh, Eurydike! I will be good! I promise I’ll be good. Please make them
let me out now." By the light of a foot-square window under the eaves she saw
Philip, in fetters, hunched sideways against the wall. The whites of his eyes
glittered in the tear-stained dirt of his face. He gazed at her pleadingly and
held out his hands. The wrists were rubbed raw. The room was furnished with a
wooden stool, and a litter of straw like a horse's. At the further end was a
shallow pit, reeking with excrement and buzzing with great blue flies. She
moved to the space under the high roof-peak, and he saw her fetters. He wept
again, wiping his running nose. The smell of unwashed flesh repelled her as
much as the privy. Involuntarily she drew back against the far wall; her head
met the roof again and she had to crouch on the filthy floor. "Please,
please, Eurydike, don't let them beat me again." She saw then why he did not
sit with his back to the wall. His tunic was stuck to his skin with dark
stripes of clotted blood; when she came near he cried, "Don't touch it, it
hurts." Flies were clustering on the yellow serum. Fighting back her nausea
she said, "Why did they do it?" He gulped back a sob. "I hit them when they
killed Konon." A great shame filled her. She covered her eyes with her
chained hands. He eased his shoulder against the wall, and scratched his
side. She had felt already the tickle of insects around her legs. "I shouldn't
have been King," he said. "Alexander told me I shouldn't be. He said if they
made me King someone would kill me. Will they kill me?" "I don't know."
Having brought him here, she could not refuse him hope. "We may be rescued.
You remember Kassandros? He didn't help us in the war; but now Olympias has
killed his brother and all his kin. Now he must come. If he wins, he will let
us out." She sat down on the stool, holding her wrist-chains in her lap to
ease their weight, and looking at the window-square, whose patch of sky was
edged by a distant tree. A gull, seeking the pickings of the kitchen-midden,
floated across from the wide free waters of the lagoon. He asked her
unhappily for permission to use the pit. When necessity drove her there, the
flies flew up and she saw their crawling maggots. Time passed. At length he
sat up eagerly. "Suppertime," he said, and licked his lips. It was not only
squalor that had changed him; he had lost several stone. A tuneless whistling
was coming towards the hut. A grimy, broken-nailed hand appeared in the
window-hole, grasping a hunk of black bread smeared with greasy dripping.
Another followed, then a crock of water. She could see nothing of the face but
the end of a coarse black beard. The whistling receded. Philip seized his
bread and tore at it like a starving dog. It seemed to her she would never eat
again; but her captors had fed her that morning. She had no need to ask if he
had eaten that day. She said, "You can have my piece today; I will eat
tomorrow." He looked at her, his face illuminated, radiant "Oh, Eurydike, I'm
so glad you've come." Afterwards he told her, rambling, the tale of his
captivity. His sufferings had confused his mind, he was often hardly coherent.
She listened dully. Far off and muted, as they might reach a sickroom, came
the sounds of early evening, the lowing of cattle, horses returning from the
stables, dogs barking, peasants hailing each other after work, the stamp and
rattle of the changing guard. A cart lumbered near with a heavy load; she
could hear the oxen straining, the driver cursing and beating them. It did not
pass by, but creaked to a halt, and, rumbling and rattling, tipped its load.
She listened dully, aware that she was exhausted, thinking of the crawling
straw. She propped her back to the wall and fell into an unsleeping
doze. Footsteps approached. Is it now? she thought. Philip was stretched out
and snoring. She waited to hear the bar withdrawn. But there came only the
indistinct sounds of peasants at heavy work. She called, "What is it? What do
you want?" The mutterings died into silence. Then, as if a stealthy sign had
been made, the stirrings began again. There was a kind of patting and scraping
against the door, then a thud, and another. She went to the little window,
but it did not overlook the door. All she could see was part of a heap of
rough-dressed stone. She was tired, and slow to understand, but suddenly the
sound came clearly: the slap of wet mortar, and the scraping of a
trowel. Kassandros was walking his siege-lines on the damp Arkadian plateau
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under the walls of Tegea; thick, dark, mossy, impacted brick, stuff that would
only dent under a ram that could have loosened ashlar. The town had a
perpetual spring inside; it was a slow business to starve them out. They had
told his heralds that they were under the special patronage of Athene, who had
promised in some oracle of remote antiquity that their city would never be
taken by force of arms. He was resolved to make Athene eat her words. He did
not hurry to meet the courier from Macedon; it was sure to be another appeal
from Eurydike. Then as he came near he saw the face of disaster, and took the
man to his tent. He was a servant who had escaped the massacre of the
Antipatrids. To the tale of death he added that Olympias had had the tomb of
his brother Iollas battered down and his bones scattered for beasts to eat,
claiming that he had poisoned her son in Babylon. Kassandros, who had
listened in rigid silence, leaped from his chair. There would be a time for
grief; all he could feel was a blazing hate and rage. "That wolf-bitch! That
Gorgon! How did they let her set foot in Macedon? My father warned them
against her with his dying breath. Why did they not kill her on the
border?" The messenger said, without expression, "They would not fight the
mother of Alexander." For a moment, Kassandros felt that his head would
burst. This man looked with alarm at his staring eyes. Aware of it, he fought
for composure. "Go, rest, eat. We will speak again later." The rider went off,
not wondering that a man should be moved by such a slaughter of his kin. When
he had come to himself, he sent an envoy to make terms with the Tegeans. He
excused them from allegiance to himself, if they would merely agree not to
help his enemies. Face-saving formulae were exchanged; the siege was lifted;
the Tegeans went in procession to the old wooden temple of Athene, to bring
her thank-offerings for keeping her ancient promise. Behind the walled-up
door, time passed like the days of a slow fatal illness, bringing misery by
small additions; more stink, more flies and lice and fleas, more festering of
their sores, weakness and hunger. But still the bread and water came every day
to the window-hole. At first Eurydike had counted the days, scratching with a
pebble on the wall. After seven or eight she missed one and lost count, and
ceased to make the effort. She would have sunk into blank apathy, broken only
by fighting with the insects, but for Philip. His mind could not hold the sum
of disaster long enough to be capable of despair. He lived from day to day.
Often he would complain to the man who brought the food, and he would
sometimes answer, not cruelly but like a sulky servant unjustly blamed, saying
he had his orders and that was the end of it. She scorned to utter a word to
him; but as time passed he grew a little more forthcoming, bringing out old
saws about the ways of fortune. One day he even asked Philip how his wife was.
He looked at her and answered, "She says I'm not to tell." She drowsed away
half the day but could not sleep at night. Philip's snores were noisy, the
vermin as tormenting as her thoughts. One morning early, when they were awake
and already hungry, she said to him, "Philip. I made you claim the throne. It
was for myself I wanted it. It is my fault you are shut up here, my fault that
you were beaten. Do you want to kill me? I do not mind. If you like I will
show you how." But he only said with a whine like a sick child's, "The
soldiers made me. Alexander told me not to." She thought, I need only give up
my bread to him. He would take it gladly if I gave it, though he will not rob
me. I would surely die quickly, now. But when the time came she could not bear
her hunger, and ate her share. To her surprise, she was aware that the portion
had grown larger. Next day there was still more, enough to save for a frugal
breakfast. At the same time, they began to hear the voices of the guard
outside. They must have been told to keep their distance-her record of
subversion was well known-their comings and goings had been only measures of
time. But discipline was relaxing, they talked and gossiped carelessly, weary
perhaps of guarding a place without an exit. Then one night, as she lay
watching through the window-hole a single star, there was a soft approach, the
click of leather and metal; the opening was darkened for a moment, and when it
lightened, there were two apples on the sill. The mere smell was
ambrosia. After that something came every night, and with less stealth, as if
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the officer of the watch were himself conniving. No one stayed to talk at the
window, no doubt a hanging matter; but they talked to their relief, as if they
meant to be heard. "Well, we've our orders, like it or not." "Rebels or no,
enough's enough." "And too much is hubris, which the gods don't like." "Aye,
and by the look of it they won't wait long." Well versed in the tones of
mutiny, she sensed something else. These men were not plotting; they were
talking openly the common talk of the streets. She thought, We are not that
woman's only victims; the people have sickened of her. What did they mean by
the gods not waiting long? Can it be that Kassandros is marching north? There
had been cheese and figs in the night, and the jug had had watered wine in it.
With better food her listlessness had left her. She dreamed of rescue, of the
Macedonians staring with pity at their filth and wretchedness, clamoring for
retribution; of her hour of triumph when, washed and robed and crowned, she
resumed her throne in the audience chamber. Kassandros' sudden departure for
the north had left confusion behind him; his forsaken allies in the
Peloponnese had to face alone the Macedonians led by Polyperchon's son. When
their desperate envoys overtook his column, he only said he had business that
would not wait. Democrat Aitolians had manned Thermopylai against his
passage. Such challenges had no romance for him. More practical than Xerxes,
he commandeered everything that would float in the busy strait between Euboia
and the mainland, and bypassed the Hot Gates by sea. In Thessaly, Polyperchon
himself awaited him, still faithful, despite Olympias, to Alexander's son. He
too was sidestepped; some troops were detached to tie him up, while the main
force pressed on northeast. Skirting Olympos, they were soon on the borders of
Macedon. The coastal fortress of Dion lay ahead. Kassandros' envoys promised
an end to the unlawful tyranny of women and a return to the ancient customs.
After a short conclave within, the gates were opened. Here he held court,
receiving all who offered support or brought him intelligence. Many kinsmen of
Olympias' victims, or men whom she had proscribed, came to join him, full of
their wrongs and clamoring for vengeance. But others came by stealth who till
lately would not have come; men who had refused to fight the mother of
Alexander, and who said now that no one but Alexander could have held such a
woman in check. These would go back, spreading news of Kassandros' pledges,
and his claim to the regency on behalf of Roxane's son. One day, he
remembered to ask of such a visitor, "And when they took Amyntas' daughter,
how did she die?" The man's face lightened. "There at least I have good news
for you. She was alive when I left, and Philip too. They are treated
shockingly, walled up in a wretched sty; there is a great deal of anger among
the people. I'm told they were in a very poor way, till even the guards took
pity on them and gave them a little comfort. If you hurry, you can save them
still." Kassandros' face had set in a moment's stillness. "Shameful!" he
said. "Olympias should have borne her good fortune more becomingly. Can they
have lived so long?" "You can count on that, Kassandros. I had it from one of
the guard." "Thank you for the news." He leaned forward in his chair, and
spoke with sudden animation. "Let it be known I mean to right their wrongs.
They shall be restored to all their dignities. As for Olympias, I shall hand
over her person to Queen Eurydike, to punish as she sees fit. Tell the
people." "Indeed I will; they will be glad to hear. I’ll get word, if I can,
to the prison. It will cheer them to have hope at last." He left, big with
his mission. Kassandros sent for his officers, and told them he would delay
his march for a few days more. It would give his friends time, he said, to
gather more support. Three mornings later, Eurydike said, "How quiet it is. I
don't even hear the guard." The first dawn was glimmering in the window-hole.
The night had been cool, the flies were not yet awake. They had eaten well on
what the night-guard had brought. The watch had changed just before dawn as
usual; but the relief had been quiet, and now there was no sound of their
movements. Had they deserted, mutinied? Or been called to help defend the
city, which would mean Kassandros had come? She said to Philip, "Soon we
shall be free, I feel it." Scratching at his groin, he said, "Can I have a
bath?" "Yes, we shall have baths and good clean clothes, and beds to sleep
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in." "And I can have my stones back?" "Yes, and some new ones too." Often in
their close quarters his nearness, his smell, the way he ate and belched and
relieved himself, had been barely endurable; she would gladly have exchanged
him for a dog; but she knew that she owed him justice. She must care for her
mind, if she was to be fit again for ruling. So she seldom scolded him, and,
if she did, gave him a kind word after. He never sulked, always forgave, or
perhaps simply forgot. "When will they let us out?" he said. "As soon as
Kassandros wins." "Listen. People are coming now." It was true, there were
footsteps; three or four men by the sound. They were on the door side, where
the window did not look. Their voices muttered but she could not make out
their words. Then, suddenly, came a sound there was no mistaking-a blow of a
pick on the wall that closed the door. "Philip!" she cried. "They have come
to rescue us!" He whooped like a child, and peered vainly through the window.
She stood up in the space under the roof-point, listening to the fall of
rubble and thud of stones. The work went quickly; the wall had been a shoddy
job, by men without their hearts in it. She called out, "Are you Kassandros'
men?" There was a pause in the pick-strokes; then a thick foreign voice said,
"Yes, Kassans men," but she could tell he had not understood her. His next
words, to his workmates, were not in Greek, and now she recognized the
sound. 'They are Thracians," she said to Philip. "They are slaves sent to
knock down the wall. When that's done, someone will come to unbar the
door." Philip's face had altered. He withdrew as far from the door as he
could without falling into the privy. Old days, before the benevolent reign of
Konon, were coming back to him. "Don't let them come in," he said. She had
begun to reassure him, when there was a laugh outside. She stiffened. It was
not the laughter of slaves, complaisant or discreet. She knew, with a crawling
of the flesh, the nature of this archetypal mirth. The last stones fell. The
crossbar clattered from the door. It creaked open; the sunrise burst dazzling
in. Four Thracians stood on the threshold, staring across the rubble. They
choked, clapping hands to their mouths and noses; men bred in the clean hill
air, with hundred-foot cliffs to receive the ordure of their villages. In this
pause, she saw on their cheeks and foreheads their warrior tattoos, saw their
pectorals of engraved bronze etched with silver, their cloaks with bands of
tribal colors, the daggers in their hands. Sickly she thought, The
Macedonians would not do it. She stood straight, in the center where the roof
was high. The leading Thracian confronted her. He wore an arm-bracelet of a
triple-coiled snake, and greaves with women's faces embossed upon the
kneecaps. Spiral blue tattoos on his brow, and on his cheeks to his dark-red
beard, made his expression impenetrable. "Kill me then!" she cried, lifting
her head. "You can boast that you killed a queen." He put out his arm-not the
right, with the dagger, but the left with the coiled bronze snake-and swept
her out of his way. She lost her footing and fell. "You slave, don't you dare
hit my wife!" In a moment, the cowering form by the privy had hurled itself
straight forward from a bent-kneed crouch. The Thracian, taken unawares with a
butted midriff, had the breath knocked out of him. Philip, fighting like an
ape enraged, using feet and knees and nails, struggled to get the dagger. He
had sunk his teeth in the Thracian's wrist when the others fell on
him. Between his roars of pain as the knives went in, she thought that he
called for Konon; then he gave a guttural choke, his head arched back gaping,
he clawed at the dirt floor and lay still. One of the men shoved at him with a
foot, but he did not move. They turned to each other, like men whose task is
done. She rose on her hands and knees. A booted foot had trodden on her leg;
she wondered that she could still move it. They were staring down at the body,
comparing the bites and scratches Philip had given them. She caught in their
unknown jargon a note of admiration; they had found, after all, a king. They
saw her movement and turned to look at her. One of them laughed. A new horror
gripped her; till now she had thought only of the knives. The man who had
laughed had a round, smooth-skinned face and a pale scanty beard. He came
towards her smiling. The leader who wore the greaves called something out, and
the man turned away with a gesture which said he could do better for himself
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than this stinking drab. They looked at their red blades and wiped them on
Philip's tunic. One of them threw it back to show the groin; the leader,
rebukingly, pulled it down again. They went out, picking their way over the
scattered stones. She tottered to her feet, shaking and dazed and cold with
shock. It had all taken, perhaps, two minutes from the time when the door gave
way. Clear early sun streaming through the doorway picked out the stale
filth, the fresh scarlet blood on the body. She blinked in the unaccustomed
light. Two shadows fell across it. They were Macedonians, and unarmed, the
second attendant on the first, for he stood half a pace behind and carried a
bundle. The first came forward, a thickset middle-aged man in a decent drab
tunic and shoulder-cloak. He gazed a few moments in silence at the scene,
clicking his tongue in disapproval. Turning to the other he said, "Mere
butchery. A disgrace." He stepped into the entry, confronting the haggard,
mat-haired woman with her grimy feet and black nails, and spoke in the flat,
rather pompous voice of a minor functionary doing his office with regard for
his own importance. "Eurydike, daughter of Amyntas. I act under command, do
you therefore hold me guiltless before the gods. Olympias, Queen of the
Macedonians, say this by me. Because your father was born lawfully of royal
blood, she does not condemn you to execution like the bastard your husband.
She gives you leave to end your own life, and offers you a choice of
means." The second man came forward, and looked for somewhere to put his
bundle down. Seeming disconcerted to find no table, he opened it on the
ground, and, like a peddler, set out the contents on the cloth: a short fine
dagger, a stoppered flask, and a cord of plaited flax with a running
noose. Silently she considered them, then looked from them to the sprawling
corpse beside her. If she had joined him as he fought, perhaps it would all be
over. Kneeling she picked up the phial; she had heard that the Athenian
hemlock killed with a creeping cold, giving no pain. But this came from
Olympias, and if she asked what it was they might lie. The dagger was sharp;
but she knew she was too weak to strike it home; half dead, what would they do
to her? She fingered the rope. It was smooth, well made and clean. She looked
up at the peak of the hut where the roof stood eight feet high, and said,
"This will do." The man gave a businesslike nod. "A good choice, lady, and
quickly over. Well soon have it fixed, you've a stool there, I see." When the
servant mounted it, she saw there was even an iron hook, fixed to a little
crossbeam, such as is found in places where tools or tackle are kept. No, they
would not be long. So, she thought, nothing at all remained. Not even style;
she had seen hanged men. She looked down at Philip, left tumbled like a
slaughtered beast. Yes, after all, something was still left. Piety remained to
her. This was the King her husband, who had made her a queen, who had fought
and died for her. As the executioner, his task done, stopped down from the
stool, she said, "You must wait awhile." The jug of watered wine, left by the
night-guard for their comfort, stood untouched in the window. She knelt beside
him, and wetting a corner of her tunic hem, washed his wounds as well as she
could, and cleaned his face. She straightened his legs, laid his left arm on
his breast and his right beside him, closed his eyes and mouth and smoothed
his hair. Set in the gravity of death he looked a comely man. She saw the
executioners looking at him with a new respect; she had done that at least for
him. Scraping her hand along the earth floor, she strewed on him the ritual
pinch of dust which would free him to cross the River. There was one thing
still, she thought; something for herself. It was not for nothing that her
blood came down from the warring Macedonian kings and the chieftains of
Illyria. She had her blood-feud; and if she could not pursue it, the powers
whose work it was must do it for her. She stood up from the body, stretching
her hands palms downwards over the trampled and bloodstained earth. "Witness,
you gods below," she cried aloud, "that I received these gifts from Olympias.
I call up you, by the waters of Styx, and by the power of Hades, and by this
blood, to give her in her turn such gifts as these." She turned to the men,
saying, "I am ready." She kicked the stool away for herself, not flinching or
leaving them to take it, as they had seen strong men do many a time. All in
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all they thought she had shown a good deal of spirit, not unworthy of her
ancestry; and when it seemed that her struggle might last longer than was
needful, they dragged her down by the knees, to pull the noose tight and help
her die. Olympias, these needful things attended to, summoned her council.
Few of the men about her were bound, now, by loyalty to her person. Some had
blood-feuds with the Antipatrids; many knew they had given Kassandros cause
for vengeance; others, she guessed, were loyal only to the son of Alexander.
She sat at the great table of gilt and hardstone where her husband Philip had
sat, a young king, in the old days of the civil wars which men of no more than
sixty could still remember, and men of seventy had fought in. She did not ask
them for advice. Her own will sufficed for her. The old men and soldiers
sitting before her saw her impenetrable solitude, her enclosure in her
will. She did not mean, she told them, to sit at ease in Pella while rebels
and traitors overran her frontiers. She would go south to Pydna; it was only
some fifteen miles north of Dion where Kassandros had insolently set up his
standard. Pydna had a harbor; it was well fortified; from there she would
direct the war. The soldiers approved. They thought of the bloodless victory
in the west. "Good," she said. "In two days I shall move the court to
Pydna." The soldiers stared. This was another thing entirely. It meant a
horde of women, servants and noncombatants taking up room, getting under the
feet of the garrison, having to be fed. After a pause in which everyone waited
for someone else to speak first, they told her so. She said, unmoved, "Our
allies can join us by sea, without losses from fighting on the march. When we
are in full strength, when Polyperchon has joined us, we will meet
Kassandros." Agenor, a veteran of the east who had been given the chief
command, cleared his throat and said, "No one questions the honor of
Polyperchon. But it is said he has had desertions." He paused; everyone
wondered if he would dare go on. "And, as you know, we can expect nothing now
from Epiros." She stiffened in her ivory-inlaid chair. The Epirotes who had
followed her to the border had mutinied when ordered to fight in Macedon, and
gone home. Only a handful of Molossians was left. She had shut herself up for
two days to nurse her pride, and Kassandros' secret partisans had made the
most of them. The councilors looked angrily at Agenor; they had seen her face
harden. She fixed on him her inflexible dangerous eyes, looking out from her
mask of will. She said, "The court will move to Pydna. This session is
closed." The men left, looking at one another, not speaking till they were in
the open. Agenor said, "Let her have her way. But she must be out before the
winter." Kassandros had had good news from the officer he had sent to deal
with Polyperchon. Avoiding battle, he had infiltrated the straggling camp with
men who had a clansman or kinsman there. They spread the news that Olympias
had shed the royal blood of Macedon, herself a foreigner and a usurper; and
offered a bounty of fifty drachmas to any good Macedonian who would join
Kassandros' force. Every morning the numbers in Polyperchon's camp were fewer;
soon he and his faithful remnant were too few to consider more than their own
defense. They dug themselves into the best of the local hill-forts, mended its
walls, provisioned it, and waited upon events. The corn and the olives
ripened, the grapes were trodden, the women took to the mountains to honor
Dionysos; in the dark before dawn the shrill Bacchic cry answered the first
cockcrow. In Pydna, the watchers on the harbor walls scanned the sea, which
the first autumn winds were ruffling. No sails appeared but those of the
fisher-boats, already running for home. Before the first gales began,
Kassandros appeared from the passes he now commanded, and surrounded Pydna
with a palisade. 316 B.C. it was spring in the valleys. The peaks of Olympos
still dazzled with winter snow under a clear pale sky. A single wreath of
cloud hid the Throne of Zeus. His eagles had forsaken its lifeless purity to
fend for themselves on the lower crags. Around the summits, only sheer cliff
that would not hold a snowflake slashed the white cloak with black. In the
foothills, the waters of the thaw scoured ravines and gullies in torrents that
ground the boulders like thunder. Below, under the walls of Pydna, a mild sun
warmed the corpses which the cold had stiffened, releasing their carrion reek,
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and the kites returned to them. Olympias, pacing the walls, looked out beyond
the siege-lines to the wild mountain ranges where the lynxes and wolves ran
free, where the pines were shrugging the snow from their furry shoulders like
awakening bears. Her gaunt face looked out from a shapeless mass of clothing,
layer upon layer. She had come in mild autumn weather, resolved that the war
would be over in a month and Kassandros dead. Alexander had always done what
he resolved, that she knew. He had seldom discussed with her the complex
calculations which had preceded action. There was a sharp wind today; she was
wearing even her state robe heaped over her shoulders like a wrap. With hunger
one felt the cold. The other women were huddled indoors over their tiny fire.
The men upon the ramparts, skull-faced, glanced dully at her as she passed,
their vitality too low to nourish a hot hate. All through the winter there had
been no assault upon the walls; the corpses in the ditch were all dead of
starvation. They had been flung there not from callousness but necessity;
there was no room left in the fort to dig more graves. Scattered among them
were the huge bones of the elephants. The horses and mules had soon been
eaten; but elephants were instruments of war, and, besides, no one had dared
to slaughter them. They had tried to keep them alive on sawdust; for a time
their complaining moans and forlorn trumpetings had disturbed the night, then
one by one they had sunk down in their stalls, and what meat was left on them,
all sinew, had been something to chew on for a while. The mahouts, who were
useless now, had been taken off the ration list; they too were below the
walls. Somewhere in the fort a camp-woman's child was crying; new born, soon
gone. The young Alexander was too old to cry. She had seen to it that he still
had enough; he was a king and must not have the strength of his manhood
crippled in his youth. Though the food was wretched he had been unexpectedly
good, telling her that his father had gone hungry with his men. But often she
would find herself looking through him, seeing the tall grandson she could
have had if her son had obeyed her, and married before he rode to war. Why,
she asked herself; why? On the rampart that faced the sea the air was
cleaner, with a sharp scent of spring. The Olympian massif with its snowy
crests called to her like the trees to a captive bird. Last autumn's Dionysia
was the first for forty years that she had not spent with her maenads in the
mountains. Never again, said the caw from the kite-haunted bones. She refused
it angrily. Soon, when it was sailing weather, Eumenes, whose loyalty had
never failed, would cross with his troops from Asia. There was a stirring
along the ramparts. A little crowd was gathering and growing, coming towards
her. She drew back from the brink and waited. The band of emaciated men
approached without sign of violence. Few looked to have strength for it Their
clothes hung on them like half-empty sacks; several leaned on a comrade's
shoulder to keep their feet. Men of thirty could have been sixty. Their skin
was blotched with scurvy and many had toothless gums. Their hair was falling.
One, to whom still clung vestiges of command, came forward and spoke, lisping
a little because his front teeth had gone. "Madam. We request permission to
leave." She looked at them, speechless. Anger surfaced in her eyes and fell
away into their depths. The old, thin voice seemed not a man's but a
Fate's. Answering her silence, he said, "If the enemy attacked he could lay
us out barehanded. All we can do here now is share the last of the stores, and
then go there." He made a tired, economical gesture towards the ditch.
"Without us, what's left will last a little longer. Permission,
madam?" "But," she said at last, "Kassandros' men will butcher you." "As God
wills, lady. Today or tomorrow, what's the odds?" "You may go," she said. He
stood a few moments looking at her mutely as the rest began shambling away.
She added, "Thank you for your good service." She went in then, because of
the cold; but a little later she went up again to watch them depart. They had
broken off branches from some scrawny pines that grew in the cracks of the
stone, and as the gates creaked open they waved them in sign of peace. Slowly
they eased themselves down the scarp, and plodded across no-man's-land toward
the siege-works. The rough timber gate in the stockade was lifted open; they
trickled through and stood in a clump inside. A single, helmeted figure came
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out to them, seemed to address them, and went away. Presently soldiers came
among them with baskets and tall jars. She watched the bread and wine
distributed, the stick-like arms reached out in eager gratitude. She returned
to her room in the gate-tower, to crouch over her little fire. A ribbon of
ants were streaming along the hearth to a basket that stood beside it. She
lifted the lid; inside, they were swarming over a dead snake. It was the last
one left from the Thracian sanctuary of Dionysos, her oracle. What had killed
it? The rats and mice had been trapped and eaten, but it could have lived on
the creeping things. It was only a few years old. She gazed at the moving mass
and shivered, then put the basket with its seething heap onto the fire. The
air grew mild, the breezes gentle. It was sailing weather; but the only sails
were those of Kassandros' warships. The ration was down to a handful of meal a
day, when Olympias sent envoys to ask for terms. From the ramparts she saw
them go into his tent. Beside her stood her stepdaughter Thessalonike, a
legacy from one of Philip's campaign weddings. Her mother had died when she
was born, and Olympias had tolerated her in the palace because she gave
herself no airs, and was quiet and civil. She was thirty-five, tall and plain,
but carried herself well. She had not dared confess that in Pella she had had
an offer from Kassandros; she had come to Pydna letting it be thought it was
her life she had feared for. Now, pale and lank-haired, she waited for the
envoys, keeping her thoughts to herself. The envoys came back, their
lassitude a little lifted by the hospitality in the tent. Kassandros' envoy
was with them. He was a man called Deinias, who had done many secret errands
for Olympias in the past and been well rewarded. How much had he told
Kassandros? He behaved as if those days had never been, insolently bland.
Florid, well-fleshed, his very body was an arrogance in that company. He
refused a private parley, demanding to speak before the garrison. Having no
choice, she met him in the central court where, while they were able, the
soldiers used to exercise. "Kassandros son of Antipatros sends you greetings.
If your people give themselves up to him, they will be spared like those who
have now surrendered. As for yourself, his terms are that you put yourself in
his hands, without any conditions." She pulled herself upright, though a
twinge reminded her that her back was stiffening. "Tell Kassandros to come
with better terms." A whispering sigh ran through the ranks behind her. "When
Eumenes comes, your master will run like a hunted wolf. We will hold out till
then." He raised his brows in overplayed surprise. "Madam, forgive me. I had
forgotten news does not reach you here. Do not set your hopes on a dead
man." Her vitality seemed to drain, like wine from a cracked jar. She kept
her feet but did not answer. "Eumenes was given up lately to Antigonos. He
was sold by the Silver Shields whom he commanded. By the chance of battle,
Antigonos seized their baggage train. Their loot of three reigns was in it;
also their women and children-one cannot tell how much that weighed with such
men. At all events, Antigonos offered it back in exchange for their commander,
and they struck the bargain." A rustling shudder passed through the brittle
ranks. Horror perhaps, the knowledge that nothing was now unthinkable; or,
perhaps, temptation. Her face was parchment-colored. She would have been glad
of the stick she used sometimes to get about the rough places of the fort.
"You may tell Kassandros we will open the gates without condition, in return
for our lives alone." Though her head felt icy cold, and a dazzle of darkness
was spuming in her eyes, she got to her room and shut the door before she
fainted. "Excellent," said Kassandros when Deinias returned to him. "When the
men come out, feed them and recruit any who are worth it. Get a trench dug for
the carrion. The old bitch and her household will stay here for the
time." "And after?" said Deinias with feigned carelessness. "Then... well.
She is still the mother of Alexander, which awes the ignorant. The Macedonians
won't bear her rule again; but, even now... I shall frighten her, and then
offer her a ship to escape to Athens. Ships are wrecked every year." The dead
were shoveled into their trench; the thin, pasty-faced women moved from the
fortress into the town house reserved for royal visits. It was roomy and
clean; they got out their mirrors, and put them quickly away; girdled their
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loose clothes round them, and ate cravingly of fruit and curds. The boy picked
up quickly. He knew he had survived a memorable siege, and that the Thracian
archers, in the secrecy of their guardroom, had made stew from the flesh of
corpses. The inner defenses of childhood were making it like a tale to him.
Kebes, whose fine physique had lasted him well, did not check this talk; the
haunted ones were those who kept silent. All kings of Macedon were heirs to
the sword; it was well to know that war was not all flags and trumpets. As man
and boy gained strength, they began to exercise again. It was Roxane who had
changed most to the outward eye. She was twenty-six; but in her homeland this
was matronhood. Her glass had showed it her, and she had accepted it. Her
consequence was now a dowager's; she saw herself not as the last King's widow,
but as the mother of the next. Pella had surrendered, on Olympias' orders,
dictated by Kassandros. This done, she sent to ask him if she might now return
to her palace rooms. He replied that at present it was not convenient. At
Pella he had things to do. She would sit in a window that looked on the
eastward sea, considering the future. She was exiled now from Epiros; but
there was still the boy. She was sixty; she might have ten years or more to
rear him and see him on his father's throne. Kassandros held audience at
Pella. The Epirotes made alliance with him; he sent an adviser to direct their
King, the young son of Kleopatra. He buried his brother Nikanor, and restored
his brother Iollas' desecrated tomb. Then he asked where were the bodies of
the royal pair, so foully murdered. They led him to a corner of the royal
burial ground, where in a little brick-lined grave Philip and Eurydike had
been laid like peasants. They were hardly to be recognized, by now, as man and
woman; but he burned them on a ceremonial pyre, denouncing the outrage of
their deaths, and had their bones laid up in precious coffers while a handsome
tomb was built for them. He had not forgotten that kings of Macedon were
entombed by their successors. There were many graves around Pella after
Olympias' purge. The withered wreaths still hung upon the stones, tasseled
with the mourners' hair. The kindred still came with tears and
offering-baskets. Kassandros made it his business to go among them,
commiserating their losses, and asking if time was not ripe for justice on the
guilty. Soon it was announced that the bereaved wished an Assembly called, to
accuse Olympias of shedding without trial the blood of Macedonians. She was
sitting with the other women at the evening meal when a messenger was
announced. She finished, drank a cup of wine, and then went down to him. He
was a well-spoken man with the accent of the north; a stranger, but there were
many after her long absence in the west. He warned her that her trial was to
be demanded; then he said, "I am here, you understand, at the instance of
Kassandros. He pledged your safety when the siege was raised. Tomorrow at
dawn, there will be a ship for you in the harbor." "A ship?" It was dusk, the
lamps in the hall had not been lit yet. Her cheeks were hollowed with shadow,
her eyes dark wells with a faint gleam in the depths. "A ship? What do you
mean?" "Madam, you have good guest-friends in Athens. You have supported
their democrats." (It had been part of her feud with Antipatros.) "You will be
well received. Let Assembly try you in absence. No one yet died of
that." Till now she had spoken quietly; she had not yet lost the lassitude of
the siege. But her raised voice was full and rounded. "Does Kassandros think I
shall run away from the Macedonians? Would my son have done so?" "No, madam.
But Alexander had no cause." "Let them see me!" she cried. "Let them try me
if they wish. Say to Kassandros only to tell me the day, and I shall be
there." Disconcerted, he said, "Is that well advised? I was to warn you that
some of the people wish you harm." "When they have heard me, we will see what
their wish is then." "Tell her the day?" said Kassandros when this news was
brought him. "She is asking too much. I know the fitful hearts of the
Macedonians. Call Assembly for tomorrow, and give out that she refused to
come." The bereaved appeared before Assembly in torn mourning clothes, their
hair newly shorn and strewn with ashes. Widows led orphaned children, old men
bewailed the sons who had propped their age. When it was made known that
Olympias would not appear, no one stood up to speak for her. By acclamation,
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Assembly voted for death. "So far so good," said Kassandros afterwards. "We
have authority. But for a woman of her rank, a public execution is unseemly.
She would be able to address the people, a chance that she would not waste. I
think we will make a different plan." The household at Pydna was busy with
small mid-morning tasks. Roxane was embroidering a girdle; Thessalonike was
washing her hair. (She had been told, on Kassandros’ authority, that she was
free to return to the palace; a distinction received with dread, and not
responded to.) Olympias, sitting in her window, was reading Kallisthenes'
account of the deeds of Alexander. He had had it copied for her by a Greek
scribe somewhere in Bactria, and sent it her by the Royal Road. She had read
it often; but today it had come into her mind that she would like to read it
again. There was an urgent tap on her door. Kebes came in. "Madam. There are
soldiers asking for you outside. They're here for no good; I have barred the
doors." As he spoke, battering and clanging began, with shouted oaths. Roxane
ran in with her sewing still in her hand. Thessalonike, a towel wound round
her hair, said only, "Is he with them?" The boy came in, saying sharply, "What
do they want?" She had been putting her book aside; now she picked it up
again. She gave it to him, saying, "Alexander, keep this for me." He took it
with grave quiet eyes. The battering on the door grew louder. She turned to
the women. "Go in. Go to your rooms. And you too, Kebes. It is for me they are
here. Leave them to me." The women withdrew. Kebes paused; but the boy had
taken his hand. If he had to die, it would be for the King. He bowed and led
him away. The door was splintering. Olympias went to her clothes-chest,
dropped to her feet the house-gown she was wearing, and put on the crimson
robe in which she had given audiences. Its girdle was Indian cloth of gold,
embroidered with bullion and rubies. She took from her casket a necklace of
great pearls which Alexander had sent her from Taxila, clasped it on, and
walking without haste to the stairhead, stood there waiting. The doors gave
way. A press of men stumbled in and stood staring about them. They began
pulling out their swords, ready to ransack the house and seek such
hiding-places as the sacking of towns had made them cunning in. Then, as they
moved towards the stairs, they saw the silent figure looking down on them like
an image on a plinth. The leaders stopped. Those behind them, even those
still at the gaping doors, saw what they saw. The clamor died into an eerie
silence. "You wished to see me," said Olympias. "I am here." "Did you run
mad?" said Kassandros when the leader reported back to him. "Do you tell me
she was standing there before you, and you did nothing? Slunk off like dogs
chased out of a kitchen? The old hag must have put a spell on you. What did
she say?" He had struck the wrong note. The man felt resentful. "She said
nothing, Kassandros. What the men said was, she looked like Alexander's
mother. And nobody would strike first." "You were paid to do that," said
Kassandros tartly. "Not yet, sir. So I’ve saved you money. Permission to
withdraw." Kassandros let him go. Affairs were at a crux, commotion must be
avoided. He would see the man got some dangerous mission later. At present, he
must think of another plan. When it came to him, it was so simple that he
wondered he could have been so slow to see it. It was drawing towards
evening. At Pydna they were looking forward to supper, not so much from
hunger-their stomachs were still somewhat shrunken-as because it broke the
tedium of the day. Alexander was being read to by his tutor from the Odyssey,
the book where Circe changes the hero's men to swine. The women were making
small changes in their toilet, to keep good manners alive. The sun hung over
the high peaks of Olympos, ready to sink behind them and plunge the coast in
dusk. The little crowd came quietly along the road, not with the tramp of
army boots, but with the soft shuffling tread that becomes a mourner. Their
hair was cropped, disheveled and dusted with wood-ash, their clothing ritually
torn. In the last sunlight they came to the broken door, shored up by a local
carpenter. It was ramshackle work. While passers-by stared, wondering what
burial these people came from at such an hour, they ran up to the door and
tore the planks apart. Olympias heard. When the frightened servants ran up to
her, she had already understood, as though she had known already. She did not
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change the homely gown she had on. She looked in the box where she kept the
Deeds of Alexander. Good, the boy had it still. Walking to the stairs she saw
the ash-streaked faces below, like masks of tragedy. She did not go through
the farce of standing there, appealing to those unrelenting eyes. She went
down to them. They did not seize her at once. Each wanted his say. "You
killed my son, who never injured anyone." "Your people cut my brother's
throat, a good man who had fought for your son in Asia." "You hung my husband
on a cross and his children saw it." "Your men killed my father, and raped my
sisters, too." The voices rose, lost words, became a gabble of rage. It
seemed they might tear her to pieces where she stood. She turned to the older
men, steadier in their sternness. "Will you not see that this is decently
done?" Though they felt no pity, she had touched their pride. One of them
lifted his staff for quiet, and cleared a place around her. Above in the
house the womenservants were keening, Thessalonike moaning softly, Roxane
wildly sobbing. She heard it like the noises of some foreign town which did
not concern her. She cared only that the boy should not see. The old man
pointed his staff. They led her to a piece of waste-land near the sea, too
poor for farming, where glaucous shore-plants grew in the stony ground, and a
mat of flotsam edged the water. The stones that strewed it were smoothed by
the sea's grinding, cast up in the whiter storms. The people drew away from
her, and stood round her in a ring, as children do in games. They looked at
the old man who had appointed himself to speak. "Olympias, daughter of
Neoptolemos. For killing Macedonians without trial, contrary to justice and
the law, we pronounce you worthy of death." Alone in the circle, she stood
with her head up while the first stones struck her. Their force made her
stagger, and she sank to her knees to prevent an unseemly fall. This offered
her head, and soon a big stone struck it. She found herself lying, gazing
upwards at the sky. A cloud of great beauty had caught the light from the
sinking sun, itself hidden behind the mountain. Her eyes began to swim, their
images doubled; she felt her body breaking under the stones, but it was more
shock than pain; she would be gone before the real pain had time to start. She
looked up at the whirling effulgent cloud, and thought, I brought down the
fire from heaven; I have lived with glory. A thunderbolt struck from the sky
and all was gone. 315 B.C. the lyceum stood in a pleasant suburb of Athens,
near the plane-shaded Dissos stream beloved by Sokrates. It was a new and
handsome building. The humbler one, where Aristotle had set up his strolling
university, was a mere annex now. A long elegant stoa with painted Corinthian
columns now sheltered the Principal and his students when they paced
discoursing. Within, it smelled benignly of old vellum, ink and
writing-wax. It was all the gift of Kassandros, presented through his
cultured Athenian governor. The Principal, Theophrastos, had long been eager
to entertain their benefactor, and the auspicious day had arrived. The
distinguished guest had been shown the new library, many of its shelves
consecrated to Theophrastos’ works; he was a derivative but prolific author.
Now they had returned to the Principal's rooms to take refreshment. "I am
glad," said Kassandros, "that you study history, and delighted that you
compile it. It is for the scholars of each generation to purge it of its
errors, before they infect the next." "Aristotle's philosophy of history..."
began Theophrastos eagerly. Kassandros, who had had an hour of learned
garrulity, lifted a courteous hand. "I myself sat at his feet, in my youth
when he was in Macedon." Hateful days, tasting of gall, seeing the charmed
circle always from outside, exiled from the bright warmth by the centrifuge of
his own envy. He said meaningly, "If only the chief of his students had put
his privilege to better use." Cautiously, the Principal murmured something
about the corruption of barbarian ways and the temptations of power. "You
suffered a grievous loss when Kallisthenes met his end. A brilliant scholar, I
believe." "Ah, yes. Aristotle feared, indeed predicted it. Some unwise
letters..." "I am persuaded that he was falsely accused of inspiring his
students to plot the death of the King. The voice of philosophy had become
unwelcome." "I fear so.... We have no one here who accompanied Alexander, and
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our records suffer." "You have at least," said Kassandros smiling, "a guest
who visited the court at Babylon in its last weeks. If you would like to call
a scribe, I can give you some account of what I found." The scribe came, well
furnished with tablets. Kassandros dictated at a smooth, measured pace. "...
But long before this he had given way to arrogance and wantonness, preferring
the godlike hauteur of a Persian Great King to the wholesome restraints of the
homeland." The scribe would have no polishing to do; he had prepared it all in
advance. Theophrastos, whose own career had been wholly scholastic, hung
fascinated on this voice from the theater of great events. "He made his
victorious generals fall down to the ground before his throne. Three hundred
and sixty-five concubines, the same in number as Darius had, filled his
palace. Not to speak of a troop of effeminate eunuchs, used to prostitution.
As for his nightly carouses..." He continued for some time, noting with
satisfaction that every word was going down on the wax. At length the scribe
was thanked, and dismissed to begin the work of copying. "Naturally,"
Kassandros said, "his former companions will give such accounts of him as they
hope will tend to their own glory." The Principal nodded sagely, the careful
scholar warned of a dubious source. Kassandros, whose throat was dry, sipped
gratefully at his wine. He, like the Principal, had looked forward to this
meeting. He had never managed to humble his living enemy; but at least, now,
he had begun to damp down the fame he had set such store by, for which he had
burned out his life. "I trust," said Theophrastos civilly at parting, "that
your wife enjoys good health." "Thessalonike is as well as her condition
allows at present. She has her father King Philip's good constitution." "And
the young King? He must be eight years old, and beginning his
education." "Yes. To keep him from inclining to his father's faults, I am
giving him a more modest upbringing. Granted that the custom was an old one,
still it did Alexander no good that all through his boyhood he had his
Companions to dominate-a troop of lords’ sons who competed to flatter him. The
young King and his mother are installed in the castle of Amphipolis, where
they are protected from treachery and intrigue; he is being reared like any
private citizen of good birth." "Most salutary," the Principal agreed. "I
shall venture, sir, to present you with a little treatise of my own, On the
Education of Kings. When he is older, should you think of appointing him a
tutor..." "That time," said the Regent of Macedon, "will certainly be in my
thoughts." 310 B.C. the castle of amphipolis crowned a high bluff above a
sweeping curve of the Strymon, just before it reached the sea. In old days it
had been fortified by Athens and by Sparta, strengthened and enlarged by
Macedon, each of its conquerors adding a bastion or a tower. The watchman on
its ashlar walls could see wide prospects on every side. They would point out
to Alexander, when the air was clear, distant landmarks in Thrace, or the
crest of Athos; and he would try to tell them of places he himself had seen
before he came here, when he was a little boy; but the years are long between
seven and thirteen, and it was growing dim to him. He remembered confusedly
his mother's wagon, the women and eunuchs in her tent, the palace at Pella,
his grandmother's house in Dodona; he remembered Pydna too well; he remembered
how his mother would not tell him what had happened to Grandmother, though of
course the servants had said; he remembered his aunt Thessalonike crying
terribly although she was going to be married; and his mother crying too on
the journey here, though she was settled now. Only one thing had been constant
all his life: the presence of soldiers round him. Since Kebes had been sent
away, they were his only friends. He seemed never to meet other boys; but he
was allowed out riding so long as soldiers went with him. It always seemed
that as soon as he got to know them, to joke and race with them and get their
stories out of them, they would be assigned somewhere else and he had a
different pair. But in five years a good many turns had come round again, and
one could pick up the threads. Some of them were dour and no fun to ride
with; but in five years he had learned policy. When Glaukias, the Commandant,
came to see him, which happened every few days, he would say that these
soldiers were most interesting people, who were telling him all about the wars
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in Asia; and soon after they would be transferred. When his friends were
mentioned he looked glum, and they stayed on for some time. Thus he had
learned that Antigonos, the Commander-in-Chief in Asia, was making war on his
account, wishing to get him out of Amphipolis and be his guardian. He had been
two years old when Antigonos had come his way, and remembered only a huge
one-eyed monster whose approach had made him scream with fright. He knew
better now, but had still no wish to be his ward. His present guardian was no
trouble because he never came. He wished his guardian had been Ptolemy; not
that he remembered him, but the soldiers said he was the best-liked of all
Alexander's friends, and behaved in war almost as handsomely, which was rare
these days. But Ptolemy was far off in Egypt, and there was no way of getting
word to him. Lately, however, it seemed the war was over. Kassandros and
Antigonos and the other generals had made a peace, and agreed that Kassandros
should be his guardian till he came of age. "When shall I come of age?" he
had asked his friends. For some reason this question had alarmed them both;
they had enjoined him, with more than their usual emphasis, not to go
chattering about what they'd said, or that would be the last he'd ever see of
them. There had always been two of them, until yesterday, when Peiros' horse
had gone lame in the first mile, and he had begged Xanthos for one canter
before they had to go home. So they had one while Peiros waited; and when they
paused to breathe the horses, Xanthos had said, "Never a word. But there's a
lot of talk about you, outside of here." "Is there?" he said, instantly
alert. "No one outside of here knows anything about me." "So you'd think. But
people talk, like we're talking now. Men go on leave. The word goes round that
at your age your father had killed his man, and that you're a likely lad who
should be getting to know your people. They want to see you." "Tell them I
want to see them, too." "I’ll tell them that when I want my back tanned.
Remember; never a word." "Silence or death!" This was their casual catchword.
They trotted back to the waiting Peiros. Roxane's rooms were furnished from
her long travels. The splendors of the Queen's rooms in Babylon, the fretted
lattices and lilied fishpond, were twelve years away; all she had of them were
Stateira's casket and jewels. Lately, she hardly knew why, she had put them
away out of sight. But she had plenty of ornaments and comforts; Kassandros
had allowed her a wagon-train to carry her things to Amphipolis. He was
sending them both there, he had said, only for their protection after all the
perils they had undergone; by all means, let her make her stay agreeable. She
had however been very lonely. In the beginning the Commandant's wife, and some
of the officers' ladies, had made overtures; but she was the Queen Mother, she
had not expected a long stay, and she had exacted her proper dignities. As
months became years she had regretted this, and put out small signals of
condescension; but it was too late, formality was coldly kept. It distressed
her that the King her son should have no company but women and common
soldiers. Little as she knew of Greek education, she knew that he should be
getting it; or how, when he came to reign, would he hold his own at court? He
was losing his tutored Greek, and falling into the uncouth Doric patois of his
escorts. What would his guardian think of him when he came? And he would come
today. She had just had word that he had arrived without warning at the
castle, and was closeted with the Commandant. At least, the boy's ignorance
should convince the Regent of his need for schooling and civil company.
Besides, she herself should long since have been installed in a proper court
with her ladies and attendants, not penned up among provincial nobodies. This
time she must insist. When Alexander came in, dusty and flushed from his
ride, she sent him to bathe and change. In her long leisure she had worked
beautiful clothes for both of them. Washed, combed, dressed in his blue tunic
bordered with gold thread and his embroidered girdle, she thought that he had
added to the grace of Persia the classic beauty of Greece. Suddenly the sight
of him moved her almost to tears. He had been growing fast, and was already
taller than she. His soft dark hair and his fine delicate brows were hers; but
his eyes, though they were brown, had something in their deep-set intensity
that stirred her memories. She put on her best gown, and a splendid gold
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necklace set with sapphires which her husband had given her in India. Then she
remembered that among Stateira's jewels were sapphire earrings. She found the
casket in the chest, and put them on. "Mother," said Alexander as they
waited, "don't forget, not a word about what Xanthos told me yesterday. I
promised. You've not told anyone?" "Of course not, darling. Whom should I
find to tell among these people?" "Silence or death!" "Hush. He is
coming." Escorted by the Commandant, whom he dismissed with a nod, Kassandros
entered. He noticed that she had grown stout in the idle years, though she
had kept her clear ivory skin and splendid eyes; she, that he looked older and
thin to gauntness, and that his cheekbones had a flush of broken veins. He
greeted her with formal civility, asked after her health and, without awaiting
an answer, turned to her son. Alexander, who had been sitting when he came
in, got up, but only on reflection. He had long ago been told that kings
should not rise for anyone. On the other hand, this place was his home, and he
had a duty as host. Kassandros, noting this, did not remark on it. He said
without expression, "I see your father in you." "Yes," said Alexander,
nodding. "My mother sees it, too." "Well, you would have outgrown him. Your
father was not tall." "He was strong, though. I exercise every day." "And
how else do you spend your time?" "He needs a tutor," Roxane cut in. "He
would forget how to write, if I did not make him. His father was taught by a
philosopher." "These things can be attended to. Well, Alexander?" The boy
considered. He felt he was being tested, to see how soon he would come of age.
"I go up to the ramparts and look at the ships and ask where they all come
from, and what the places and the people are like, if anyone can tell me. I go
riding every day, under guard, for exercise. The rest of the time," he added
carefully, "I think about being King." "Indeed?" said Kassandros sharply.
"And how do you plan to rule?" Alexander had given this thought. He said at
once, "I shall find all the men I can whom my father trusted. I’ll ask them
all about him. And before I decide anything, I shall ask them what he'd
do." For a moment, to his surprise, he saw his guardian turn quite white, so
that the red patches on his cheeks looked almost blue; he wondered if he was
ill. But his' face grew red again, and he only said, "What if they do not
agree?" "Well, I’m the King. So I must do what I think myself. He had
to." "Your father was a-" Kassandros checked himself, greatly though he had
been tempted. The boy was naive, but the mother had shown cunning in the past
He finished "... man of many aspects. So you would find... Well, we will
consider these matters, and do what is expedient. Farewell, Alexander. Roxane,
farewell." "Did I do well?" Alexander asked when he had gone. "Very well.
You look truly your father's son. I saw him in you more than ever
before." Next day brought the first frost of autumn. He rode out with Xanthos
and Peiros along the shore, their hair blowing, tasting the sea-wind. "When I
come of age," he shouted over his shoulder, "I shall sail to Egypt." He came
back full of this thought. "I must see Ptolemy. He's my uncle, or partly. He
knew my father from when he was born to when he died. Kebes told me so. And my
father's tomb is there, and I ought to offer at it. I've never offered him
anything. You must come too, Mother." Someone tapped at the door. A young
girl slave of the Commandant's wife came in, with a jug that steamed spicily
and two deep goblets. She set it down, curtseyed, and said, "Madam brewed it
for you, and hopes you will honor her by taking it, to keep out the cold." She
sighed with relief at having remembered it. She was a Thracian and found Greek
hard. "Please thank your mistress," Roxane said graciously, "and tell her
that we shall enjoy it." When the girl had gone, she said, "She is still
hoping to be noticed. After all, we shall not be much longer here. Perhaps
tomorrow we will invite her." Alexander was thirsty from the salt air, and
tossed down his cupful quickly. Roxane, who was at a tricky stage of her
embroidery, finished the flower that she was stitching, and drank hers
then. She was telling him a story about her own father's wars-he must
remember, after all, that there were warriors on her side too-when she saw his
face tauten and his eyes stare past her. He looked urgently at the door, then
rushed to a corner and bent over, retching and straining. She ran to him and
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took his head in her hands, but he fought her off like a hurt dog, and
strained again. A little came up, smelling of vomit and spices; and of
something else, that the spices had masked before. It was from her eyes that
he understood. He staggered to the table, emptied the jug out on the floor,
and saw the grounds at the bottom. Another spasm cramped him. Suddenly his
eyes burned with pure rage; not like the tantrums of his childhood, but like a
man's; like the blazing anger of his father which she had, once only,
seen. "You told!" he shouted. "You told!" "No, no, I swear!" He hardly heard
her, clenched in his agony. He was going to die, not when he was old but now;
he was in pain and afraid; but overwhelming even pain and fear was the
knowledge that he had been robbed of his life, his reign, his glory; of the
voyage to Egypt, of proving himself Alexander's son. Though he clung to his
mother, he knew that he craved for Kebes, who had told him his father's deeds,
and how he had died game to the last, greeting his men with his eyes when his
voice was gone. If only Xanthos and Peiros had been here, to be his witnesses,
to tell his story... there was no one, no one... The poison had entered his
veins, his thoughts dissolved in pain and sickness; he lay rigid, staring at
the room-beams. Roxane, the first qualms working in her, crouched over him,
moaning and weeping. Instead of the stiffened face with the blue mouth, the
white forehead sweating under the damp hair, she saw with dreadful clarity the
half-made child of Stateira, frowning in Perdikkas' hands. Alexander's body
contracted violently. His eyes set. In her own belly the gripe became a
stabbing, convulsive pain. She crept on her knees to the door and cried, "Help
me! Help me!" But no one came. 286 B.C. king ptolemy's book-room was on the
upper floor of the palace, looking out over Alexandria harbor; it was cool and
airy, its windows catching the sea-breeze. The King sat at his writing-table,
a large surface of polished ebony which had once been crowded with the papers
of his administration, for he had been a great planner and legislator. Now the
space was clear but for some books, some writing things, and a sleeping cat.
The business of Egypt went to his son, who was discharging it very capably. He
had relinquished it by degrees, and with increasing satisfaction. He was
eighty-three. He looked over the writing on his tablet. It was a little
shaky, but the wax was readably engraved. In any case, he hoped to live long
enough to oversee the scribe. Despite stiffness, fatigue and the other
discomforts of old age, he was enjoying his retirement. He had never before
had time to read enough; now he was making up for it. Besides he had had a
task saved up, to whose completion he had long looked forward. Many things had
hampered it in earlier years. He had had to exile his eldest son, who had
proved incurably vicious (the mother, married too soon for policy, had been
Kassandros' sister) and it had taken time to train this much younger son for
kingship. The crimes of the elder were the one sorrow of his age; often he
reproached himself for not having killed him. But his thoughts today were
serene. They were interrupted by the entrance of his heir. Ptolemy the
Younger was twenty-six, pure Macedonian; Ptolemy's third wife had been his
stepsister. Big-boned like his father, he entered softly, seeing the old man
so quiet in his chair that he might be dozing. But his mere weight on a
floorboard was enough to dislodge two scrolls from one of the crowded shelves
that lined the walls. Ptolemy looked round smiling. "Father, another chest of
books has come from Athens. Where can they go?" "Athens? Ah, good. Have them
sent up here." "Where will you put them? You've books on the floor already.
The rats will have them." Ptolemy reached out his wrinkled freckled hand and
scratched the Cat's neck above its jeweled collar. Svelte and muscular, it
flexed its smooth bronze-furred back and stretched luxuriously, uttering a
resonant, growling purr. "Still," said his son, "you do need a bigger
book-room. In fact, you need a house for them." "You can build one when I'm
dead. I will give you another book for it." The young man noticed that his
father was looking as complacent as the cat. Almost he had purred too. "What?
Father! Do you mean that your book is finished?" "In this very hour." He
showed the tablet, on which was written above a flourish of the stylus, HERE
ENDS THE HISTORY OF ALEXANDER. His son, who had an affectionate nature, leaned
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down and embraced him. "We must have the readings," he said. "In the Odeion
of course. It's nearly all copied already. I'll arrange it for next month,
then there will be time to give out word." To this late-born child, his father
had been always old, but never unimpressive. This work, he knew, had begun
before he himself was born. He was in haste to see his father enjoy the fruits
of it; old age was fragile. He ran over in his mind the names of actors and
orators noted for beauty of voice. Ptolemy pursued his thoughts. "This," he
said suddenly, "must kill Kassandros’ poison. I was there, as everyone knows,
from the beginning to the end... I should have done it sooner. Too many
wars." "Kassandros?" Dimly the young man recalled that King of Macedon, who
had died during his boyhood and been succeeded by disastrous sons who were
both dead too. He belonged to the distant past; whereas Alexander, who had
died long before his birth, was as real to him as someone who might now walk
in at the door. He had no need to read his father's book, he had been hearing
the tales since childhood. "Kassandros...?” "In the pit of Tartaros, where he
is if the gods are just, I hope he learns of it." The slack folds of the old
face had tightened; it looked, for a moment, formidable. "He killed
Alexander's son-I know it, though it was never proved-he hid him through all
his growing years, so that his people never knew him, nor will he be known by
men to come. The mother of Alexander, his wife, his son. And not content with
that, he bought the Lyceum, which will never be the same again, and made a
tool of it to blacken Alexander's name. Well, he rotted alive before he died,
and between them his sons murdered their mother... Yes, arrange the readings.
And then the book can go to the copy-house. I want it sent to the Lyceum-the
Academy-the school at Kos. And one to Rhodes, of course." "Of course," said
his son. "It's not often the Rhodians get a book written by a god." They
grinned at each other. Ptolemy had been awarded divine honors there for his
help in their famous siege. He gently stirred the cat, which presented its
cream belly to be tickled. The younger Ptolemy looked out of the window. A
blinding flash made him close his eyes. The gold laurel-wreath above the tomb
of Alexander had caught the sun. He turned back into the room. "All those
great men. When Alexander was alive, they pulled together like one
chariot-team. And when he died, they bolted like chariot-horses when the
driver falls. And broke their backs like horses, too." Ptolemy nodded slowly,
stroking the cat. "Ah. That was Alexander." "But," said the young man,
startled, "you always said-" "Yes, yes. And all of it true. That was
Alexander. That was the cause." He picked up the tablet, looked at it
jealously, and put it down. "We were right," he said, "to offer him divinity.
He had a mystery. He could make anything seem possible in which he himself
believed. And we did it, too. His praise was precious, for his trust we would
have died; we did impossible things. He was a man touched by a god; we were
only men who had been touched by him; but we did not know it. We too had
performed miracles, you see." "Yes," said his son, "but they came to grief
and you have prospered. Is it because you gave him burial here?" "Perhaps. He
liked things handsomely done. I kept him from Kassandros, and he never forgot
a kindness. Yes, perhaps... But also, when he died I knew he had taken his
mystery with him. Henceforward we were men like other men, with the limits
that nature set us. Know yourself, says the god at Delphi. Nothing too
much." The cat, resenting his inattention, jumped into his lap and began
kneading itself a bed. He unhooked its claws from his robe and set it back on
the table. "Not now, Perseus, I have work to do. My boy, get me Philistos, he
knows my writing. I want to see this book set down on paper. It is only in
Rhodes that I am immortal." When his son had gone, he gathered the new
tablets together with shaky but determined hands, and set them neatly in
order. Then he waited at the window, looking out at the gold laurel-wreath
that stirred as if alive in the breeze of the Middle Sea. AUTHOR'S
NOTE Among the many riddles of Alexander's life, one of the strangest
surrounds his attitude to his own death. His courage was legendary; he
consistently exposed himself in the most dangerous part of any action; if he
believed himself to be god-begotten, this did not in Greek belief make men
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immortal. He had had several dangerous wounds and nearly fatal illnesses. One
might have supposed that a man so alert to the contingencies of war would have
provided for this obvious one. Yet he ignored it totally, not even begetting
an heir till the last year of his life, when after his severe wound in India
he must have felt his dynamic vitality begin to flag. This psychological
block, in a man with immense constructive plans meant to outlast his life,
will always be an enigma. Had Hephaistion survived, he would presumably have
been left the regency as a matter of course. His record reveals, besides a
devoted friend and, probably, lover, an able intelligent man, sympathetic to
all Alexander's ideas of statecraft. His sudden death seems to have shattered
all Alexander's certainties, and it is clear that he had not yet recovered
from the shock when, partly as a result of it, his own life ended. Even so,
during his last illness he continued to plan for his next campaign till he
could no longer speak. Perhaps he held the view Shakespeare gives to Julius
Caesar: Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of
death but once. His responsibility for the murderous power struggle which
followed does not lie in his personality as a leader. On the contrary, his
standards were high in terms of his own day, and he demonstrably checked in
his chief officers the unscrupulousness and treachery which surfaced when his
influence was gone. Insofar as he was to blame, it was in not making a good
dynastic marriage, and begetting an heir, before he crossed to Asia. Had he
left a son of thirteen or fourteen, the Macedonians would never have
considered any other claimant. As it was, the earlier history of Macedon
makes it plain that his successors simply reverted to the ancestral pattern of
tribal and familial struggles for the throne; except that Alexander had given
them a world stage on which to do it. The deeds of violence which this book
describes are all historical. It has indeed been necessary, for the sake of
continuity, to omit several murders of prominent persons; the most notable
being that of Kleopatra. After Perdikkas' death, she lived quietly in Sardis
till she was forty-six, refusing an offer of marriage from Kassandros. In 308,
probably from sheer ennui, she made overtures to Ptolemy. It seems unlikely
that this prudent ruler meant to repeat Perdikkas' rash adventure; but he
agreed to marry her, and she prepared to set out for Egypt. Her plans became
known to Antigonos, who, fearing an obstacle to his own dynastic aims, had her
murdered by her women, afterwards executing them for the crime. Peithon
allied himself with Antigonos, but became powerful in Media and seemed to be
planning revolt. Antigonos killed him too. Seleukos outlived even Ptolemy (he
was a younger man) but when nearly eighty invaded Greece to attempt the throne
of Macedon, and was killed by a rival claimant. Aristonous, at the time of
Olympias' surrender to Kassandros, was garrison commander of Amphipolis.
Kassandros lured him out under a pledge of safety and had him
murdered. Pausanias says of Kassandros, But he himself had no happy end. He
was filled with dropsy, and from it came worms while he was still alive.
Philip, his eldest son, soon after coming to the throne took a wasting disease
and died. Antipatros, the next son, murdered his mother Thessalonike, Philip's
and Nikasepolis' daughter, accusing her of being too fond of Alexandros, the
youngest son. He goes on to relate that Alexandros killed Antipatros his
brother, but was killed in turn by Demetrios. This extirpation of the entire
line reads like the vengeance of the Furies in some Greek tragedy. Antigonos
strove for years to conquer Alexander's empire for himself, till Ptolemy,
Seleukos and Kassandros made a defensive alliance and killed him at the battle
of Ipsos in Phrygia, before his son Demetrios, who was always loyal to him,
could come to his help. The remarkable career of Demetrios cannot be
summarized in a note. A brilliant, charming, volatile and dissipated man,
after notable achievements, which included the Macedonian throne, he was
captured by Seleukos, in whose humane custody he drank himself to death. The
strange phenomenon of Alexander's uncorrupted body is historical. In Christian
times this was considered the attribute of a saint; but there was no such
tradition in Alexander's day to attract hagiographers, and allowing for
exaggeration it does not seem that something abnormal occurred, which the
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great heat of Babylon made more remarkable. The likeliest explanation is of
course that clinical death took place much later than the watchers supposed.
But it is evident that someone must have taken care of the body, protecting it
from the flies; the probability being that this was done by one of the palace
eunuchs, who had no part in the dynastic brawls going on outside. Alexander's
eight chief officers were known as the Bodyguard; this is a literal
translation of the Greek, but it would be wrong to suppose that they were in
constant attendance on his person. Many held important military commands. They
have therefore been described as staff officers in the list of Principal
Persons. The title of Somatophylax, or Bodyguard, is probably rooted deeply in
Macedonian history. Principal Sources Quintus Curtius, Book X, for events
immediately after Alexander's death: thereafter, Diodorus Siculus, Books XVIII
and XIX. Diodorus' source for this period is a good one: Hieronymos of Kardia,
who followed the fortunes first of Eumenes, afterwards of Antigonos, and was
close to many of the events he describes. About the Author mary renault was
born in London, where her father was a doctor. She first went to Oxford with
the idea of teaching, but decided that she wanted to be a writer instead, and
that after taking her degree she should broaden her knowledge of human life.
She then trained for three years as a nurse, and wrote her first published
novel, Promise of Love. Her next three novels were written during off-duty
time when serving in World War II. One of them, Return to Night, received the
MGM award. After the war, she went to South Africa and settled at the Cape.
She has traveled considerably in Africa and has gone up the east coast to
Zanzibar and Mombasa. But it was her travels in Greece that resulted in her
previous brilliant historical reconstructions of ancient Greece, The Last of
the Wine, The King Must Die, The Bull from the Sea, The Mask of Apollo, Fire
from Heaven, The Persian Boy, and The Praise Singer. In addition to the
novels, she has written a biography of Alexander the Great, The Nature of
Alexander. The End




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