CHAPTER II.
ANTIOCHUS.
The greater part of the population of Joppa, which, like most seasidetowns, was somewhat cosmopolitan in its habits and ways of thinking, hadhurried down to the shore to watch the arrival of the great Syrian King.And, indeed, his fleet was a sight worth seeing. Thirty ships, all of themwith three banks of oars, were formed in a semicircle, the arc of whichwas parallel with the line of the shore. They were war-vessels, the finestand swiftest that the Syrian fleet possessed, manned with picked crews,and now gay with all the sumptuous adornments that befitted a peacefulerrand. The day was perfectly windless, and the sea as calm as a lake.This circumstance made it possible for the squadron to preserve the orderof its advance with an exactitude which would not have been possible hadit been moving under sail. On the prow of each vessel stood aflute-player, and the rowers dipped their oars in time to his music. Eachplayer had his eyes fixed on a conductor who was posted on the royalvessel, a five-banked ship, which occupied a position slightly in advanceof the semicircle. Time was thus kept throughout the squadron--a result,however, not obtained, as may easily be imagined, without a vast amount ofpractice. The sight of the thousands of oars, as they were dipped andlifted again in rhythmical regularity, with the sunshine flashing uponthem, was beautiful in the extreme. As for the ship that carried KingAntiochus, it was a gorgeous spectacle. The ropes were of gaily-colouredsilk; the hull was brilliant with gold. The figure-head was the head andbust of a sea-nymph, exquisitely wrought in silver. The poop was coveredwith a crimson awning.
As the squadron approached the harbour, a convenience which the Joppa ofto-day no longer possesses, the royal ship fell back, allowing the leadingvessels on either side of the semicircle to precede it to the pier. Fromthese a company of troops, splendidly arrayed in gilded armour,disembarked, and formed two lines, between which the King was to walk.
The Syrian King was a young man of about two-and-twenty years, tall, andwell made, and not without a certain dignity of presence. His face, too,at first sight would have been pronounced handsome. It was of the trueGreek type: the forehead and nose forming an almost uninterrupted straightline. This line, however, receded too much, giving something of anexpression of weakness. But for this the features of the young Syrian kingmight have been described as bearing a singular resemblance to those ofthe great Alexander. Youthful as he was, his complexion, naturally of abeautiful delicacy, was already flushed with excess. But the most sinistercharacteristic of his face was to be found in the restless look of hisprominent eyes. The descendants of the brilliant soldier, the ablest andmost upright of the generals of Alexander, who had founded the Syriankingdom, had sadly degenerated under the corrupting influences of power.The hideous example of lust and cruelty had been set and improved upon bygeneration after generation, till the fatal taint of madness, always theavenger of such wickedness, had been developed in the race.(3)
The Council of Joppa had sent a deputation of their body, headed by theirpresident, Josedech, to receive the visitor with such respect as mightlawfully be shown to a heathen. Greeting and compliments could beexchanged without any loss of ceremonial purity. Nor would there be anyharm in presenting a gift. To sit down to meat with an unbeliever, was, ofcourse, out of the question; but this difficulty had been overcome by thecomplaisance of a wealthy Greek merchant, who, for sufficient reasons ofhis own, had offered to entertain the visitor.
The councillors saluted the King, not with the extravagant form of "Livefor ever!" but with the more moderate form of "Peace be with you."Antiochus answered with a careless greeting. At the same time he turned toone of his courtiers, and said in a whisper which was heard, as it wasmeant to be heard, by others besides the persons addressed, "Look! what aset of he-goats. And faugh! how they smell!" The young King, who wasexceedingly vain of his good looks, had the fancy of making himself up asthe beardless Apollo, and, of course, the court followed the fashion thathe set. The insulting words did not fail to reach the ears of the elders,but they affected not to have heard them. The president then proceeded todeliver his address of welcome. It was sufficiently civil, but, as may besupposed, not enthusiastic. The speaker hoped that friendly relationsmight continue to exist between the Jewish people and the kingdom ofSyria. He was glad to receive on Jewish soil a powerful monarch who, hetrusted, would be favourably impressed with what he should see and hear.If his subjects had any grievances they would find prompt redress; theKing would doubtless do the same for Jewish merchants who consideredthemselves aggrieved.
To this address, which, after the manner of such documents, was somewhatverbose and lengthy, Antiochus listened with ill-concealed impatience;perhaps it would be more correct to say, with impatience that was notconcealed at all. He fidgeted about; he interjected disparaging remarksthat must have been distinctly heard a long way off. He even corrected thespeaker when he made a slip in Greek idiom. Still the elders preserved animperturbable calm, though a keen observer might have seen the flushrising upon their faces.
The address of welcome ended, it only remained to offer the customarypresent. An attendant stepped forward carrying a robe of honour, a pieceof native manufacture, which, without being particularly splendid, wassufficiently handsome and valuable to be adequate to the occasion. But itdid not please the young King, who, indeed, was scarcely in the humour tobe pleased with anything. One of his followers received it from the handsof the attendant, and Antiochus, according to the usual etiquette, shouldhave touched it, saying at the same time a few words of politeness. Whathe did was to take it from the hands of the courtier who had received it,shake it out, and hold it from him at arm's length, eyeing it, at the sametime, with an expression of undisguised contempt. Even this was not all.Turning his back upon the elders he dropped the robe on the head of one ofhis attendants, and, by a sudden movement, twisted it round his neck,bursting out at the same time into a loud horse-laugh. The laugh was, ofcourse, dutifully echoed by his courtiers; but to the Joppa crowd itseemed no laughing matter. An angry murmur ran through it. The front ranksmade a menacing movement forwards, while stones began to fly from behind.On the other hand, the soldiers of the King's body-guard drew theirswords, and began to form up behind him. They were not properly prepared,however, for a conflict; for, as they had come only on a service ofceremony, they had nothing with them but their swords and light ornamentalbreastplates.
Everything wore a most threatening look, when there occurred aninterruption that was probably welcome to every one, except, it may be,the hotheaded and reckless young sovereign himself. The deputation fromJerusalem had arrived. The high priest, anticipating, as we have seen,some trouble, had despatched them at the very earliest opportunity, andhad urged them to make the best of their way to their destination. At thesame time, that their presence might have something more than moralweight, he had sent a squadron of cavalry. The deputation, with theirescort following close behind, now made their way through the crowd.
The high priest was represented by his kinsman Phinehas--who had found asubstitute for his unfashionable name in Phineus--by Menander, who has beenalready mentioned, and by two Greeks, of whom our acquaintance Cleon wasone. Josedech and his companions willingly left the management of affairsin the hands of the new arrivals, and retired from the scene. Leaping fromhis horse, Phinehas, or Phineus, prostrated himself in Eastern fashion atthe feet of Antiochus, and his companions followed his example, while theescort of cavalry saluted. "Rise," said Antiochus, whose good humour beganto return when he found himself treated with what he conceived to beproper respect. He even condescended to reach out his royal hand, andassist the envoy to recover his feet. Phineus proceeded to deliver anaddress of welcome which was certainly not wanting in florid compliment.It might even have been called profane, for Antiochus was described notonly as magnificent, illustrious, victorious (to mention a few only of thespeaker's exuberant supply of epithets), but even as divine. The speechended, an attendant presented a richly-chas
ed casket of gold, filled withcoins, fresh from the Syrian mint, and bearing the features andsuperscription of Antiochus himself. The King received it with somethinglike _empressement_, and after speaking a few words of thanks, passed itto his treasurer. At the same time he took a bag of silver from one of hisattendants, and condescended to scatter some of the pieces among the crowdthat lined the quays, with his royal hands. As may be supposed, a vigorousscramble ensued, and not a few of the spectators were tumbled over theedge into the shallow water below. Others jumped in of their own accordafter some of the pieces which had fallen short. A general burst oflaughter was the result, and the situation lost the gravity which had beenso alarming a few minutes before.
The King now recognized an old acquaintance in Cleon. Antiochus, handedover in his childhood as a hostage by his father, had spent his boyhoodand youth in Rome. The somewhat austere manners of that city had notpleased him, and he was glad to find in the young Greek an acquaintancemore congenial than the young Marcelli, sons of the priest of that name,under whose charge he had been put. Cleon had come to Rome to seek hisfortune, and had found employment in assisting the comic poet Caecilius inmaking his translations from the Greek. Poets, however, were not so wellpaid as to be able to spare much for their assistants, and Cleon had beenvery glad to act as the young prince's teacher, a post which his guardianthe priest had found it very difficult to fill. Tutor and pupil had beenon the most friendly terms. The elder man was indulgent, exacted no morethan the youth was willing to learn, and, possibly thinking that all thenecessary austerity was supplied by the Roman guardian, winked at variousindulgences which would not have approved themselves to his employer.Antiochus retained a grateful recollection of the complaisant youth whohad made things so agreeable for him in the days of his captivity.
"Hail, Cleon, most delightful of teachers, behold the most thankful ofpupils!"
And he embraced the Greek, kissing him on both cheeks.
"So you, too," he went on, "have escaped from that dismal prison-houseacross the sea! Was there ever a place, think you, more unfit for agentleman to live in? And how have you fared since I saw you? I hope thatFortune has had something pleasant in store for you."
"She could have done nothing better, Sire, than to thus give me thepleasure of seeing you."
"Oh, what a compliment! I see that your tongue has not lost its dexteroustwist. But I suppose I must attend to this stupid business here. Why can'tthey let one come quietly, and see what people really are. I dare saythere are some good fellows here as elsewhere; but all these ceremoniesand speech-making and fine clothes tire me to death. Well, we shall find achance of having some talk together before long. Anyhow, you will come andsee me at Antioch. I will make you court-poet, or general-in-chief, orhigh priest of Aphrodite! I know that you can do anything that you chooseto turn your hand to."
While this conversation was going on the Greek merchant who hadvolunteered to entertain the royal visitor was waiting to be introduced.This ceremony performed by Phineus, he proceeded to give his invitation.
"Will your Highness be pleased to accept such humble hospitality as I canoffer? My house and all that is within it are at your service."
"Pleased! of course I shall be pleased," returned the King, in boisterousgood humour. "I know what your 'humble hospitality' means. It is youmerchants that can afford to do things handsomely. You make the money, andwe can only spend it. What with armies and fleets and legions of servants,who eat us up like so many locusts, we never have a drachma that we cancall our own. As for me, I am easily satisfied. Give me a mullet, a pieceof roast kid, a flask of good wine, and a pretty girl to hand the cup, andI want no more. Lead on."
The procession moved on to the merchant's house. This reached, the King,who declared that he wanted his midday sleep, was at once shown to hisapartments.
It was some six hours later when the banquet, for which the host had mademagnificent preparations, was ready. The company was assembled, and wasfairly numerous, though it did not contain the true _elite_ of Joppasociety. With one or two not very respectable exceptions, therepresentatives of the high-class Jewish families were absent. But therewere plenty of strangers in the town, and the room was sufficiently full.The trading community was present in force: Greeks, Syrians, Egyptians,Carthaginians, and even a Greek-speaking Gaul from Marseilles, werepresent. Rome was represented by two Roman knights, who were doing aprofitable business in money-lending, and who had the name of prettynearly every noble in Syria on their books.
But the guest of the evening was absent. The company waited with thepatience with which royal personages are waited for on such occasions. Atlast, when an hour had gone beyond the time fixed for the entertainment,the host ventured to send up to the King's apartment, with a humblereminder that the banquet was ready. But the apartment was empty!
"What can have become of him?" was the thought in every one's mind, notunaccompanied by a certain anxiety in the older courtiers, who hadobserved with dismay the reckless proceedings of their master.
At last a thought struck Cleon. He took the chief of the King's attendantsaside and communicated to him his suspicions. "I saw something of hisHighness's ways at Rome," he said, "and I can guess what has happened. Healways had a fancy for disguises, for dressing himself up as a sailor oran artizan, and going to some very curious places in the city. Often andoften have I been with him--to keep him out of mischief, you know--and, bythe gods! it was well I did. I remember his being very nearly stabbed onenight in a low wine-shop in the Suburra.(4) And now I remember that thismorning his Highness said something about wanting to see what the peoplereally were, without all this ceremony. Let us question the porter whetherhe has seen any one go out."
The porter was questioned accordingly. At first he could give noinformation. At last he remembered observing two young men in sailor'sdress passing the gate about three hours before. He had taken no heed ofthem. Sailors had been coming and going all day, with various articleswhich they were bringing up from the ship, and he had supposed that thesewere two of the number. Here the man's wife struck in with the informationthat she had noticed the two sailors, thinking that there was somethingodd about their appearance; their clothes were very shabby, but they had asuperior air. Neither the man nor his wife knew anything more; but theythought that the two had turned in the direction of the harbour afterleaving the house.
Under these circumstances search seemed hopeless, and might, indeed, domore harm than good. Perhaps the safest plan would be to let the young manfind his way back for himself. After some discussion, however, it wasresolved that Cleon, after first changing the dress which he had donnedfor the banquet for something less conspicuous, should look in at some ofthe wine-shops near the harbour, which were suggested as likely places forthe search by the character of the King's disguise.
Cleon was successful beyond his expectation. His attention was attractedby the sound of boisterous laughter proceeding from a tavern whose windowsfronted the place where the King had landed. The place was crowded tooverflowing, and even the pavement before the house was thronged withidlers, who were content to hear what they could of the fun inside withouthaving any score to pay. With no little difficulty Cleon edged his wayinto the principal room. It was a strange scene that met his eye. The roomwas crowded with Phoenician and Greek sailors, with here and there theswarthy face of a Moor among them. The guests sat on benches, closelypacked together, and every one had a huge earthenware cup in his hand anda pitcher of wine at his feet. At the further end of the room was a smallplatform reserved for the performers who were accustomed to entertain theaudience. A couple of dancing-girls had just exhibited a dance of theboisterous kind which was specially favoured by the seafaring spectators;and now his Syrian Majesty was doing his best to entertain the companywith the burlesque of a Roman electioneering oration. He spoke in Greek,or, rather, the mixture of tongues, the _Lingua Franca_ of the time, whichdid duty for Greek in the seaport towns of the Eastern Mediterranean; andhe used with considerable effe
ct the broad Roman accent. His speech, couldit be reproduced, would be dull or even unintelligible to us, but hisaudience found it highly entertaining. The Greeks, always quick-witted,caught the points with admirable readiness, and the others laughed, if notfor any other reason, at least for sympathy. The most completelysuccessful part was where the orator, who affected to be a candidate forthe consulship, propounded a grand scheme, according to which the citizensof Rome were to live in idleness, supported by the contributions of thewhole world. When the attention of the audience began to flag, the youngPrince, with an audacious presence of mind that would have become aveteran performer, suddenly changed the entertainment. Sticking a tall capon his head, he proceeded to give a ludicrous imitation of the solemndance of the priests of Mars. Cleon had seen the original performance inRome, and he could not but confess that the slow, awkward movement, anddroning chant which the performer adapted to a popular song of a somewhatequivocal kind, was a very clever piece of work.
_Antiochus in the Tavern._]
A few minutes afterwards Antiochus retired, breathless with his exertions,and Cleon made his way after him.
"So you are here," burst out the King. "Good, was it not?"
"Excellent, my lord," returned Cleon; "but you must excuse me if I ask youto come back. The banquet is ready, and the company are waiting for you."
"Confound the company; there is much better company here. I will stopwhere I am."
Cleon remonstrated and argued; at first, it seemed, with no effect.Finally, however, by a judicious mixture of flattery and promises, andspecially, by enlarging on the opportunity that there would be ofelectrifying the _elite_ of Joppa by a display of eloquence, he inducedthe King to come away. Antiochus was eaten up with a vanity that wasalmost insane, and he was as proud of his capacity for serious oratory ashe was of his talents as a buffoon.
Unfortunately the eloquence was never displayed. The King had drunklargely of the heady wine which was a favourite with the nauticalcustomers of the tavern, and he applied himself with equal diligence tothe more refined vintages which he found on the table of Stratocles, hisentertainer. The company drank his health in bumpers; and, not to beoutdone, a huge capacity for drink being, as he thought, one of his mosthonourable distinctions, he pledged them in return by draining a cup of aroyal size. This was a final effort. He spoke a few hesitating sentences,frequently interrupted by hiccoughs, staggered, and but for the promptattention of his attendants, who had indeed observed his condition, wouldhave fallen to the ground. Nothing remained but to carry him out of thebanqueting hall.
It was late in the afternoon of the following day before he wassufficiently recovered from the effects of his debauch to start forJerusalem. A halt for the night was made about halfway, and late in theafternoon of the next day the cavalcade approached Jerusalem. Jason cameout to meet his guest. He had done his utmost to bring a reputable companywith him, but his efforts had not been very successful. The respectablepart of the population of the city was conspicuously absent, a mixedmultitude of strangers and half-breeds, brutal in manners and squalid inappearance, represented the Jewish nation. Fortunately it was dark, andthe torchlight procession with which the King was escorted into the citydid something to conceal by its picturesque effects the general meannessof the affair. Antiochus, however, did not fail to notice the character ofthe gathering, and indeed rallied his host on his ragged and disreputablefollowers. But his good humour did not seem to be disturbed. He admiredthe decorations of the palace, was loud in praise of Jason's taste in art,and indeed admired one statuette so much that his host felt compelled tooffer it for his acceptance, much against his will, for it was supposed tobe an original by Scopas, and to be worth at least five talents. The nextday came a visit to the Temple. The King shrugged his shoulders at what hewas pleased to consider the tastelessness of its architecture, suggestedto his host that he had better pull the whole place down and build itagain in a better style, and offered him the services of his own architectand a painter who, he said, had a quite unequalled skill for such subjectsas a dance of satyrs and nymphs, and would cover the walls of the newbuilding with some really elegant designs. But if the architecture of theTemple did not please him, he expressed a genuine admiration for some ofits contents. There was a greedy light in his eye as he looked at the richfurniture and gorgeous vessels--and this, though Jason, having certainviews of his own, had the prudence not to show him the chamber whichcontained the most massive treasures of the place. But whatever Antiochusmay have thought, he said nothing but what was civil and pleasant. It maybe supposed, however, that a few days of such a guest would be enough, andit was with unmixed delight that at the end of a week Jason saw him departfor Phenice.
The Hammer: A Story of the Maccabean Times Page 3