Callias: A Tale of the Fall of Athens

by Alfred John Church

  CHAPTER XIII.

  ALCIBIADES.

  The sun was just setting when the _Skylark_ cast anchor about twohundred yards from the shore and opposite the castle with which theloftiest point of the cliffs was crowned. The signal flag which thecaptain ran up to his mast-head was answered by another from the castle,and in a few minutes a boat was seen to start from a little quay whichhad been built out into the sea at the foot of the cliff. Callias hadwritten a letter to Alcibiades in which he briefly described himself andhis errand, and Hippocles, though modestly depreciating the value of anything that he could say, had also written, at the young man's request, aletter of introduction. These documents were handed over to the officerin charge of the boat, and conveyed by him to the castle. After a veryshort delay the boat returned again, this time in the charge of anofficer of obviously higher rank. This higher personage mounted the sideof the _Skylark_, and after giving a courteous greeting to Callias,delivered to him an invitation from Alcibiades to make his castle hishome for as long a period as he might find it convenient to stay there,explaining at the same time that his master would have come in person towelcome his guest, if he had not been detained by business of importancewith a neighboring chief. The young Athenian's baggage--for he had beenliberally fitted out by the thoughtful and generous care ofHippocles--was transferred to the boat, and in a few minutes more he hadset his foot on the landing-place.

  He had been speculating as he neared the shore, about the way in whichthe castle was to be approached. An observer looking from the sea mighthave thought that there was no way of getting to it except by scalingthe almost perpendicular base of the cliff. Once landed on the quay,however, the traveller discovered that a passage had been cut throughthe cliff. This passage, which could be closed at its lower end by amassive door, was something like a winding staircase. It was somewhatstifling and dark, though light and air were occasionally admitted byholes bored to the outer surface of the rock. Its upper end opened in toa courtyard round which the castle was built. The approach from the seawas, it will have been seen, sufficiently secure. On that side indeedthe castle of Bisanthe was absolutely impregnable. From the land, itwas, to say the least, safely defensible. It was approached by onenarrow ridge, so formed that a few resolute men could hold it against anumerous body of assailants. The walls were lofty and massive, and soconstructed that a galling fire of missiles could be kept up on eitherflank of an attacking force.

  Callias was escorted to his chamber by a young Thracian slave, whoinformed him in broken speech that a bath room in which he would findhot and cold water was at his service, and further that his master hopedto have the pleasure of his company at supper in an hour's time. Thechamber, it may be said, was furnished with a clepsydra, orwater-clock, marked with divisions.[44]

  Callias awaited his introduction to his host with no little curiosity.Alcibiades was, as has been said, a kinsman of his own, and he had heardof him--what Athenian, indeed, had not,--but he had never happened tosee him. Callias' father had been an aristocrat of the old-fashionedtype, and had so strongly disapproved of his cousin's reckless andextravagant behavior that he had broken off all intercourse with him,and had been particularly careful that his son should never come incontact with him. Callias was about fourteen when Alcibiades left Athensin command (along with two colleagues) of the Sicilian expedition. Theabsence thus begun lasted about eight years. For the first half of thistime he was an exile; for the second half in command of the fleets andarmies of Athens, but still postponing his return to his native city.Then came his brief visit, lasting it would seem, only a few days,[45]and at that time Callias, as it happened, had been absent in foreignservice. He was now in what was or should have been, the prime of life,having just completed his forty-fourth year, but the dissipation of hisyouth and early manhood and the anxieties of his later years had lefttheir mark upon him, and he looked older than his age. Yet there weretraces of the brilliant beauty that in earlier days had helped to makehim the spoiled darling of Athens. The wrinkles had begun to gatherabout his eyes, but they were still singularly lustrous, and couldeither flash with anger, or melt with tenderness. His temples werehollow and his cheeks had somewhat fallen in; but his complexion wasalmost as brilliant as ever, while the abundant auburn curls that fellclustering about his neck had scarcely a streak of gray in them.

  His greeting to his guest was more than courteous. It was affectionate,exactly such as was fitting from an older to a younger relative. Indeedthen, as ever afterward during their acquaintance, Callias was greatlystruck by the perfection of his manners. It seemed impossible that thestories told of his haughty insolence by which in former years he hadmade himself one of the best-hated men in Athens could possibly be true.

  Supper was announced shortly after Callias had been ushered into thechamber. Alcibiades took his guest by the hand, led him into thedining-room, and assigned him a place next to himself. Some other guestswere present. Two of these were officers in the military force whichAlcibiades maintained in his stronghold; the third was an aged man, whohad been his tutor many years, and for whom he retained an affectionthat was honorable to both master and pupil. The fourth was the Thracianchief with whom Alcibiades had been engaged when the _Skylark_ arrived.

  The meal was simple. The chief feature was one of the huge turbot forwhich the Euxine was famous.

  "That would have cost a fortune in the fish market at Athens," said thehost pointing to the dish, "even if it could have been procured at all.Here a fisherman thinks himself well paid for such a monster by three,or at the most, four _drachmae_."[46]

  A piece of venison and a platter of quails were the other dishes. Thesecond course consisted of a maize pudding and some sweet-meats.

  During the repast the conversation turned speedily on local matters, andwas carried on (but not till after a courteous apology had been offeredto the young Athenian) in the bastard Greek largely mixed with Thracianwords, in which the chief was accustomed to express himself. The mealended, a handsome silver cup was handed by the major-domo, a venerablelooking man, who made the comfort of his master and his most honoredguests his special care. Alcibiades took it and poured out a few dropsupon the table, uttering as he did so, the words: "To Athene theChampion." This was equivalent to the loyal toasts of an Englishbanquet. He then took a very moderate draught, the wine being unmixed,in obedience to the rule which demanded that all wine used in religiousceremonies--and this libation was such a ceremony--should be pure.[47]He then tipped the cup to each guest in turn. All were equally moderate,for it was not the custom, even for a Greek drunkard, it may be said, todrink his wine unmixed. But when the cup came to the Thracian chief hedrank a deep draught as if the liquor had been liberally diluted.Callias who had never been at table with a Thracian before, watched theman with amazement. He saw that while the other guests were suppliedwith the usual mixtures of wine and water the chief remained steadfastin his devotion to the undiluted liquid, and that he emptied his cup ata draught, and that the cup itself was of an unusual capacity. Nor didthe drinker seem affected by these extraordinary potations, except thathis voice became louder, and his manner more boastful. At last, however,and that without a moment's notice, he rolled over senseless on hisback. So sudden was the change that it suggested the idea of a fit.

  "Is he ill?" he whispered in some alarm, to his neighbor.

  "Ill? not a whit. It is the way in which he always finishes hisevenings. His slaves will carry him to bed, and he will awake to-morrowmorning without the suspicion of a headache. Bacchus, I verily believe,has a special favor for these fellows, and, truly, they do worship himwith a most admirable earnestness."

  The Thracian's collapse was the signal for breaking up the party.Callias and the old tutor, Timanthes by name, declined to drink anymore, and the two officers, who were on duty for the night, departed tomake their round. Strong as was the place Alcibiades omitted noprecautions for its safe custody. Timanthes, who was old and feebleretired to rest.

  "Come with me to my own
room," said Alcibiades to his guest, "we shallbe here alone."

  The chamber to which he led the way was little like what one would haveexpected to find in free-booter's stronghold, for really the castle ofBisanthe was more of that than anything else. Art and letters were amplyrepresented in it. On one wall hung a panel painting[48] by Polygnotus,a masterly composition, of that serenity, that ethical meaning, as thegreat critic Aristotle expresses it, which was characteristic of theartist. This represented the gods in council at Olympus. It was faced onthe opposite wall by an exceedingly graceful painting from the hand ofXeuxis, Aphrodite and the Graces, and a spirited picture by the sameartist, of the duel between Ajax and Hector. There were other works bymen of less note. Sculpture was represented by only a single specimen, abust of Socrates.

  "Paintings are easily carried about," Alcibiades afterwards explained tohis guest, "but sculpture is inconveniently heavy. You will understandthat a man in my situation has always to be ready for a move; and Ialways like to have two or three really good things that I can alwaystake with me. One bust, indeed, I have indulged myself with, that of myold teacher. Ah! if I had heard him to more purpose, I should not behere! You know him, of course?"

  Callias said that he did.

  "An excellent likeness! is it not? Who would think that such featuresconcealed a soul so divinely beautiful? Did you have any talk with himwhen you were in Athens?"

  "Yes," replied Callias, "and I admired above all things his practicalwisdom. But what was that to what I afterwards saw of him?"

  And he went on to relate how the philosopher stood firm, though inimminent peril of his life, and had steadfastly refused to put theunconstitutional proposal of Callixenus to the assembly.

  Alcibiades heard the story with uncontrollable delight. He started upfrom his seat, and walked up and down the room with flashing eyes. "Tellme everything about it," he said, and he insisted upon the repetition ofevery detail. "That is magnificent," he cried, when his curiosity hadbeen satisfied. "That is exactly what one would have expected fromSocrates. I suppose that it is the very first time that he ever acted aspresiding magistrate--he had never been so, I know, when I left Athens,nor have I heard of his having been since--and that first time he didwhat nobody else dared to do. You say that the others gave way?"

  "Yes," replied Callias, "they stood up against it at first, but gave inafterwards. Socrates was absolutely alone, and at last they put thequestion without him."

  "It is just like him," cried Alcibiades with enthusiasm.

  "He is simply the bravest and most enduring man alive. I could tell youstories about him that would astonish you. We served together in thecampaign at Potidaea. Indeed we were in the same mess. When we had shortcommons, as we had many a time, there was no one like him in holdingout. He seemed to be able to go without food altogether, but when we hadplenty, he could enjoy it as well as anybody. We had a foolish way, asyoung men will, of making people drink whether they wished it or not.But nothing ever affected Socrates. No one ever saw him one whit theworse for what he had taken. And as for the way in which he bore cold,it was absolutely incredible, only that one saw it with one's own eyes.The winters here are terrible, as you will find out, if, as I hope youwill, you stop with me, but he used to make nothing of them. During thevery hardest frost we had, when every one who could, stayed in doors,and those who were obliged to go out, wrapped themselves till you wouldhardly know them, he wore nothing but his common cloak, and wentabsolutely barefoot.

  "Once, I remember, something came into his mind. That was in the earlymorning. Well, he stood trying to think it out till noon, and from noonhe went on till evening. Some Greeks from Asia wanted to see how longthis would go on; so, after dinner, they brought out their mattresses,and took up their quarters for the night in the open air--it wassummer-time, you must understand. Some of them slept, and some watchedhim, taking it by turns. Their report was that he stood there tillmorning, and the sun rose, and that then he made a prayer to the sun,and so went to his quarters.

  "His courage, too, is astonishing. In one of the battles at Potidaea hesaved my life. I had been wounded and must infallibly have been killed,if it had not been for him. He took me up and carried me off to ourline. The generals gave me the prize for valor, when they ought, byright, to have given it to him. But they took account of my family andrank, and curiously enough, he was just as anxious as they were that Ishould have it and not he. Then at Delium, again, when the day wentagainst us, and the army was in full retreat. I was in the cavalry; hewas serving as a foot soldier. Our men would not keep together, and heand Laches--he was killed, afterward, at Mantinea--were making the bestof their way back. I rode up to them and told them to keep up theircourage and I would not leave them. A cavalry soldier has, you know, agreat advantage in a retreat. There was no need to tell Socrates to keepup his courage. Laches, I could see, though a brave enough man, wasterribly frightened; but Socrates was as cool as a man could be. He heldup his head finely, and marched steadily on. It was plain enough to seethat anyone who meddled with him would find out his mistake. The end ofit was that he got back safe, and brought Laches back safe also. Thefact is that at such times it is the men who are in a hurry to get awaythat are cut down. I do not think that there ever was a braver man thanSocrates. And what you have just been telling me bears it out. A man maybe brave enough in battle and be timidly frightened when the assembly ishowling and raging against him. This has been a dismal business of thegenerals and I have never been so near despairing of my country, as Ihave since I heard it. How is it possible to help a city that makessuch a requital to those who save her? But still, while there are menlike Socrates in her, all is not lost. But no more now; you must beweary, and ready to sleep. There will be plenty of time hereafter totalk. And now farewell."

  FOOTNOTES:

  [44] It is convenient in a narrative to speak of "hours," and the Greekshad a division of time that was so named. But it must not be supposedthat these hours were exact periods of time such as we mean by the word.The day between sunrise and sunset was divided into twelve equal parts,which varied in length according to the season of the year. Thedivisions of the whole period of a day and night into twenty-four equalunvarying parts was later than the period of which I am writing, beingattributed to Hipparchus, the astronomer, a native of Nicaea in Bithyniawho lived in the second century B. C. The water-clock mentioned in thetext may have been one of those large ones which served for the wholenight (Plato is said to have had one). The slave in announcing to theguest the time at which the meal would be served would probably indicateit by pointing to this or that division marked upon it. The water-clockmay be roughly compared to a sand-glass, but the water flowed throughseveral orifices, which were very minute.

  [45] He returned in May, 407, conducted in person the procession toEleusis; a ceremony which had been discontinued for some time on accountof the presence of the Spartan garrison at Decelea, and left again totake command of the fleet a few days afterward. He never saw Athensagain.

  [46] Three _drachmae_ would be something more than half-a-dollar,(2 s. 5 d. in English money). This is taking silver at its presentconventional value. What its purchasing power would be now it would bedifficult to say, but it would certainly be greater than that of the sumby which it is represented.

  [47] So we have in Homer (Iliad 11, 261) "the libations of wineunmingled" mentioned together with "the hand-holt trusted of yore," athing that gave a solemn sanction to treaties. Similar references aboundin the Greek and Latin poets.

  [48] The ancients painted on panel, not on canvass. Thus the Latinequivalent for 'picture' is tabula or tabella, words which may otherwisebe used for a 'plank.'