Alexander

by H A CULLEY

  Not only had the wound opened but, because it hadn’t been cleaned straight away, infection had set in. The man ran to fetch some maggots and applied them to the wound. When Iphitos saw what he was doing he tried to stop him but Myrto put a hand on his arm.

  ‘Kyrios, the maggots will eat away the corrupt flesh, then they can stitch the good flesh back together again,’ Philomedes’ skeuphorus told him.

  Iphitos looked at the boy, wondering how he knew that, but he nodded and watched anxiously as the physician finished applying the wriggling white fly larvae. He bound the wound with a linen dressing to contain the maggots whilst allowing the wound, and the maggots, to breathe and then bustled off to tend to another patient.

  When Philomedes eventually dropped off to sleep, Iphitos left Myrto to look after his master and went outside the tent to breathe in some clean air. Instead his nostrils were assailed by the smell of smoke. He turned towards the source and saw the whole city of Thebes aflame. Alexander was carrying out his threat to destroy the perfidious city. He looked towards the Electra Gate and saw soldiers throwing thousands of bodies into a gigantic pit. He later found out that the corpses were those of the defenders of Thebes who had fought a brave action to the death. None had surrendered.

  At that point a breathless Hector came running up to him.

  ‘Kyrios, the king had called a meeting for Noon and he would like you to attend.’

  Iphitos nodded and the boy sped away to summon the other commanders to the meeting.

  ‘Thank you for coming, I wanted you to know what I intend to do with the land once owned by Thebes.’

  At this, those crowded into the tent listened eagerly. No doubt quite a few thought that Alexander might be about to give them Theban estates as a reward; they were to be disappointed.

  ‘The demolition of Thebes will have sent a warning to Athens and the other city states of Greece not to betray me but I also need to placate the other cities of Boeotia, who will no doubt be angry at the loss of their principal city.’

  Iphitos though that this might qualify as the understatement of the century. He didn’t think Alexander appreciated how the rest of Greece, not just Boeotia, would detest what he had done and how they would revile him.

  ‘So I intend to appeal to their greed. Some of you might have reasonably expected me to make gifts of land to you, but I’m not going to do that. The land previously owned by Thebes and its citizens will be distributed amongst the other cities of Boeotia. That way they will share the blame with us for what has happened here.’

  Iphitos thought what a clever move this was and his admiration for Alexander increased. What he didn’t know was that the idea had been Hephaestion’s, not Alexander’s. Alexander was a charismatic leader but the brains behind his success belonged to his friend.

  -X-

  At the time that Thebes was being destroyed Georgios was passing through the Gates of Fire on his way back to re-join the army. He and his men were tired, having travelled since dawn on the third day of hard riding since leaving Pella. He had ignored the lone figure of a boy walking along the road ahead of them at first, but then something about the lad struck him as familiar, even from the back.

  The boy moved off the road and waited patiently for the cavalcade to pass him. He was tired, hungry and beginning to suffer from sunstroke in the searing midday heat. At first he didn’t realise that the man riding in front of the column had stopped to peer down at him.

  ‘Cyneus? What are you doing here?’

  The boy looked up at his cousin, smiled in relief, and then fainted. When he awoke he was dimly aware of being bounced about, but the throbbing pain in his head dominated his mind. He opened his eyes and panicked when he realised that he was several feet off the ground, then he saw the horse’s head and realised that he was mounted in front of someone who had a comforting arm around his waist. He had never been on a horse before and the sensation was slightly alarming. He turned his head around to see his cousin smiling down at him.

  It hurt his neck to crane his head around like that and so he looked ahead again. Apollo had nearly finished driving his chariot of fire across the sky and five minutes later Georgios brought his horse to a stop in a hollow between the road and a stream that trickled over rocks and dropped down into a pool.

  ‘How are you feeling?’

  ‘Apart from this throbbing head and an empty stomach, I’m fine. It might have been a different story had you not come along when you did, though.’

  ‘You can tell me how you came to be where I found you later, but now you need to take of those stinking clothes and go and wash yourself in that pool before the rest of my men do so. The water’s cold but that’ll help get rid of your headache too.’

  When the boy returned dripping wet he looked for his exomis and sheepskin but Georgios had thrown them onto a campfire. Instead he handed him a spare exomis of his. It was far too large for the fourteen year old boy but, with the shoulders pinned and a belt around his waist, it was wearable. It came down to mid-calf level instead of reaching the top of the knee and Cyneus worried that the soldiers would laugh at him, but they ignored him.

  He joined his cousin and a group of his men to eat a very welcome supper and then Georgios took him off to one side and asked him why he was there. The man already knew about the coin that his sister had given Cyneus but he didn’t know that the boy had buried it.

  ‘I felt that someone was watching me at the time, but I couldn’t see anyone. A week later one of the other boys came to take over and as soon as I entered our house back in the village I knew something was wrong. My father sat by the fire and glared at me before producing the coin. He asked me why I had tried to hide it from him; I knew that my property was his by law so I didn’t have an answer. It was obvious in any case. He beat me worse that he had ever done before and I couldn’t leave my bed for three days. Slowly I recovered and when it was my turn to look after the goats again, I stole a small water skin and ran away instead. I thought that if I followed the road south I’d soon come to Thebes, where I knew that Enyo and Theon would be. I didn’t realise that it was so far. I soon emptied the water skin but I couldn’t find anywhere to refill it. I had some food but it ran out after three days and it must have been another two days before you found me.’

  Georgios hugged him and then released him, gripping him by his shoulders and looking him in the eyes.

  ‘Cyneus, I have some bad news. Theon was killed during the battle with the Theban army at Thermopylae and I’ve just taken Enyo back to Pella to have their baby.’

  The boy had hardly known Theon but he had liked him and the knowledge that he was dead depressed him almost as much as the fact that Enyo was no longer with the army at Thebes.

  ‘Don’t worry, I’ll take you to Iphitos. As your brother’s adoptive father as well as mine, I’m sure he’ll look after you. I would do so myself, but a cavalry unit is no place for a boy.’

  The next day, as they approached the blackened ruins of Thebes, they saw a long column of carts coming towards them escorted by a lochus of light spearman and an ilium of Thracian cavalry. The iliarch in command gave Georgios a brief account of the fall of Thebes as the carts trundled past the two men. Then suddenly they heard a boy shout from one of the carts.

  ‘Kyrios, kyrios.’

  When he ignored it the boy changed his shout to ‘Georgios.’

  He stiffened at the temerity of a boy with an unbroken voice calling him by name, but then recognised Myrto and rode over to him. It was Cyneus who recognised his brother first.

  ‘Philomedes, what’s happened to you?’

  He leaped down from Georgios’ horse and ran up to the slow moving cart, climbing into it helped by Myrto.

  ‘Is he going to be alright,’ he asked Myrto.

  ‘Cyneus? What are you doing here?’ his brother replied before Myrto could say anything.

  ‘Running away from our pig of a father. What happened?’

  ‘Oh, I’ll be fine now. I’m
just very weak and the physicians say it’ll be a month or two before I’ll be fit again. So they’re sending me back to Pella to recover.’

  Georgios was riding alongside the cart and heard what his cousin had said.

  ‘Enyo will be glad to see you. She’s fed up with Chloe fussing around her like a mother hen,’ he grinned.

  ‘Oh! I suppose she’ll fuss around me as well. Having Myrto mothering me is bad enough.’ But he grinned at his skeuphorus to show that he didn’t mean it and the boy grinned back. They had become very close recently; closer than Philomedes had ever been to Cyneus.

  ‘Come on, Cyneus, we’d better get back to my men and continue on to what remains of Thebes. Take care of yourself Philomedes, though I don’t suppose that Chloe and Myrto will let you do anything else.’

  He smiled down at his cousin before hauling Cyneus back in front of him and riding back to his halted column.

  Chapter Eighteen – Farewell to Macedon

  Spring 334 BC

  Alexander was sitting behind a folding table with Parmenion, Hephaestion and Antigonus standing behind him when Iphitos entered. The latter looked startled for a minute, wondering if he’d been hauled in front of some sort of tribunal. However, Alexander’s welcoming smile dispelled any such thoughts.

  ‘Ah, Iphitos, good. Now that Greece is pacified at last we can start to plan for the invasion of Persia.’

  Iphitos was puzzled. The king knew that he wanted to leave the army and return to Pella and his family. Kleandros would soon finish building the new fortress on the border with Dardania and could re-join the army as Alexander’s chief engineer so he couldn’t think what the king wanted with him. He was about to find out.

  ‘I think it was a mistake to allow Kleandros to replace you and, not only do I want you to take over your old role from him but I want you to gather intelligence for me in Anatolia prior to our landing there. Lysis is doing a good job with the artillery so I’ll spare you command of them as well. It is some time since Parmenion returned and those he left behind seem to have shut themselves up in the Greek cities along the coast and know nothing about Persian troop movements in the interior.’

  Iphitos was stunned. This was what he had been dreading. He believed that, if he went with Alexander, it would be years before he returned. He would miss seeing his children grow up and he would miss Chloe even more. However, if Alexander wanted him it would be foolish, even dangerous, to refuse him.

  ‘I understand, basileus,’ he replied formally.

  ‘You’re too young to leave the army anyway,’ Alexander said dismissively. ‘Even Parmenion, who’s thirty years older than you, is coming with me.’

  ‘I’m too old to fight so I’m being put out to pasture,’ the latter commented with a hint of bitterness.

  Alexander glared at him. ‘You remain my most senior strategos and chief military adviser but, with the death of Demetrius, you know that I need someone I can trust implicitly as my head of logistics. Supplies are going to be vital.’

  Iphitos hadn’t heard that Demetrius had died. He knew that he had been the last of Parmenion’s boyhood friends and he wondered idly what it must be like to grow old and watch all your friends fade away one by one.

  Basileus,’ he said hesitantly. If I’m to be your head of intelligence again I’ll need someone to replace Enyo and Theon.’

  ‘Who do you have in mind?’

  ‘Georgios, Enyo’s brother. I know he’s a tetrarch in your Companions but his background is the same as Enyo’s. In addition, I was thinking he could be my assistant on that side.’

  ‘Hmm; and I suppose you’ll want me to promote him to sweeten the pill?’

  ‘Iliarch would be more appropriate, yes.’

  ‘Very well. You’ll need an aide as well; you’re going to be busy. I’ll leave the choice to you though.’

  ‘Thank you. I’d thought of Ondrej. I know he’s still a young boy but he has a quick mind and he’s proved his worth as a scout.’

  He had initially thought of Weylin but Ondrej was the quicker thinker and he was impressed by the boy the more he saw of him.

  Alexander looked at Iphitos as if he were mad, and then he recalled the conversation he’d had with the boy on the mountainside above the Gates of Fire.

  ‘Others will think it very odd and might even think you have picked him because you like very young boys.’

  Iphitos couldn’t believe what the king was suggesting and his eyes flashed dangerously.

  ‘If anyone even thinks that I would countenance such a revolting idea I wouldn’t hesitate to kill them, no matter who they were!’ he retorted angrily.

  Alexander looked up, his own eyes narrowing.

  ‘Be very careful, Iphitos, you are very useful, but you are not irreplaceable.’

  ‘Good! If I’m replaceable then replace me. Send me back to Pella.’

  Parmenion looked startled, remembering that he had said something similar a few years ago.

  ‘Calm down man!’ For once Alexander could see that he had made a mistake and he looked to Hephaestion for help.

  ‘There is no suggestion that you like boys, young or old. We all know that,’ the king’s friend said, trying to diffuse the situation. ‘Alexander is just cautioning you about what people may say if you appear to make a favourite of such a small boy.’

  ‘Those that know him, especially the Pathfinders, know that he is a valuable member of the unit. They, at least, will understand and the rest of the army can think what they like!’

  He was still furious when he left the king’s tent but he quickly calmed down. He was honest enough to admit that appointing Ondrej as his aide would cause gossip. The job of the aide was to run errands, take messages here and there, find people their commander wanted to see and generally make themselves useful. Often adults filled the role but increasingly it was a job taken on by ephebes. Ondrej was half the age of an ephebe. He wasn’t quite sure why he was so determined to appoint the boy as his aide but he decided that people could think what they liked, he wasn’t about to change his mind. Having made his decision he felt a lot happier.

  He hadn’t gone very far on the way back to his own tent when he saw Georgios riding towards him with a big grin on his face and a boy he thought looked vaguely familiar sat in front of him. The next day, after he had got to know a shy Cyneus a little better, he made up his mind and he sent a soldier to find him and Georgios.

  When they arrived he hardly recognised Cyneus. His hair had been cut and washed properly and he was wearing a green chiton that fitted him, rather than one which made him look like a dwarf. He seemed to have lost some of his shyness too, as if his new appearance had given him more confidence in himself. Iphitos was struck by his similarity to Philomedes at the same age. Of course, they were brothers, but they could have been twins if Cyneus hadn’t been nearly five years younger.

  ‘Sit down both of you.’

  He quickly explained what Alexander had said to him the previous day.

  ‘The delegations from Boeotian cities have already arrived and Alexander is meeting them this afternoon. I am told that the Athenian delegation has set out. Demosthenes was all for mustering their army and inviting Corinth , Sparta and the other cities in Attica and the Peloponnese to join them in fighting us, but the city fathers were too frightened that Alexander would destroy Athens too. Therefore we expect the delegation is expected to pledge their continuing loyalty to Alexander.’

  ‘What will he do,’ Georgios asked curiously.

  ‘What would you do?’

  ‘Accept their pledges but demand that they provide my army with another chiliarch or two of hoplites for the Persian invasion.’

  Iphitos looked at him with renewed respect.

  ‘Precisely!’

  Georgios looked pleased and smiled.

  ‘But that wasn’t why you wanted to see me, was it father? Have you decided what to do with young Cyneus here?’

  ‘Yes, and you too.’

  ‘Oh?�
� He looked at Iphitos curiously.

  ‘We leave here as soon as the Athenians have gone home with their tails between their legs. Once back in Pella we’ll prepare for the invasion and leave for Sestos and embarkation within the month, so there is little time.’

  He paused before continuing. The choice of Sestos had surprised everyone after the trouble that Alexander had gone to secure the banks of the Danube, but he realised now that this had been a diversionary tactic to fool the Persians. The crossing over the Hellespont would be much simpler, provided there was no opposition, either on land or at sea.

  ‘Cyneus, I’d like to adopt you, if you’re willing. I haven’t asked my wife yet but I’m certain she’ll agree.’

  The boy beamed with pleasure.

  ‘Yes, please, kyrios.’

  ‘You can call me father when we’re alone. I’ll get the papers drawn up today.’

  ‘I can’t thank you enough, er, um, father,’ he said uncertainly, then continued with more determination. ‘But what will you do with me? I’m not educated and all I know about is goats.’

  ‘A bit like Georgios here and your brother when they were your age then?’

  ‘Oh! Yes, I suppose so; but they lived with you in Pella first, didn’t they? I mean, will you leave me with your wife in the city? I’m a little bit frightened, if I’m honest. I’ve never even been in a large village, let alone a city like Pella; and I won’t know anyone.’

  ‘No, I’ll take you with me. I want you to become Georgios’ aide. Don’t worry he’ll be patient, won’t you, Georgios? And you’ll soon get the hang of it. The main skill you’ll need initially is to find people he wants to see or send messages to; that sort of thing.’