Alexander

by H A CULLEY

  ‘But I don’t know anyone or what they look like.’

  ‘My, my; you are a worrier aren’t you?’ Iphitos had started to become a little impatient and wondered if making the boy his deputy’s aide was such a good idea. However, Georgios seemed quite keen on the idea when they’d discussed it. ‘Don’t worry Georgios or Ondraj will help you.’

  ‘Ondraj?’

  Georgios knew that Alexander has offered him promotion to iliarch as his assistant head of intelligence to help his father and that Cyneus was to be his aide, but he didn’t know anything about the small Autaratian boy.

  ‘Yes, I was coming to that. He’s proved very useful in the time that he’s been with the Pathfinders and I’ve been keeping my eye out for a new aide. He’s it.’

  ‘Really?’ Ondraj? But he’s six or something.’

  Iphitos gave him a warning look before replying and Georgios got the message that he should drop the subject.

  ‘He’s just turned nine. Now to work. You, I and our two aides are going to be busy, especially as Alexander has just put me back in charge of the engineers as well.’

  -X-

  In fact there was a bit more to it than that, as he discovered when he returned to Pella and the arms of his wife and the children. They immediately took to Cyneus and Ondraj and they quickly became indistinguishable from the rest of the extended family. Weylin had sulked for a bit as he’d hoped that he’d be promoted to aide, but he soon settled back to his role as Iphitos’ skeuphorus and in time he and the younger boy became good friends.

  Enyo, in particular, developed a soft spot for the young Autaratian. She was finding the limitations imposed by her pregnancy, particularly not being allowed to ride and hunt, irksome and the loss of Theon still caused periods of deep depression. Cyneus and Ondraj did their best to amuse her and the three developed a close bond. It would make it even harder when the boys left, but by then she would have the baby to take care of.

  Iphitos found out that he was to be rather more than just head of intelligence. He was to be in charge of the bematistae, a corps of cartographers who were, in addition to making maps, also responsible for finding suitable camping grounds and sources of local food for the fifty thousand troops and another thousand civilians who were to accompany the expedition. The latter consisted of scholars, scientists, geographers, botanists, astronomers and mathematicians. Alexander wasn’t just intent on plundering the riches of Persia but its intellectual property as well.

  The king had told Iphitos that additionally he was to be in charge of publicity and propaganda; an alien concept amongst Greek armies up to that point. His agents were to spread fear and panic amongst the Persians to emasculate their armies before they even met in battle. He also wanted his great achievements recorded for posterity, something that didn’t surprise Iphitos. Alexander was very conscious of his place in history.

  He quickly came to the conclusion that he couldn’t manage the engineers as well and made Chronos his assistant on that side of his responsibilities. He made it clear that his overall supervision of him was to be titular only and he would back whatever decisions he made. However, the campaign turned out to be so mobile that Chronos’ main job was building bridges where Iphitos told him to: a fairly simple task.

  All that lay in the future though. The day came when Iphitos, Georgios, Ondraj , Weylin and Cyneus had to leave. They would be travelling ahead of the army with Parmenion as head of logistics, the Pathfinders – once again under Philomedes command now that he had fully recovered – and the administrative staff who would help Parmenion and Iphitos organise the embarkation and ferrying of so many men over the Hellespont.

  -X-

  The day of departure dawned and Cyneus began to wish that he could stay in Pella with Chloe and Enyo. He had fallen in love with his cousin in the way that boys can do when they reach puberty and they place an older woman on a pedestal. Enyo was well aware of Cyneus’ infatuation but her mind was elsewhere. She had gone into labour a week before they left and it had been a difficult birth. She had been exhausted for two days afterwards and so the last meeting that Enyo and Cyneus had was in a crowded bedroom whilst Enyo suckled little Theon, named after his father, and his brother, Barates. The fact that she had twin boys had surprised everyone and it was one of the reasons that Enyo was so exhausted.

  The maternal sight of Enyo breastfeeding had gone some way to dispel the romantic feelings that Cyneus had for his cousin and it was with a happier mind that he left. He didn’t think that he could stand seeing the loving attention he craved from Enyo being given to the two infants.

  Sestos proved to be something of a disappointment. It was little more than a large village but it did have a harbour. Iphitos had brought Chronos and some of his engineers with him and their first job was to start work on building a temporary quayside from which the ships could be loaded. He also told Chronos to get the bematistae working at laying out the various encampments needed to house the army until it was their turn to embark.

  A week later the army began to arrive. The cavalry came first; apart from Alexander’s Companions, who would travel with him later, there was an epihipparchia each of Thessalonian heavy cavalry and Thracian light cavalry and another made up of horsemen from the rest of Greece. With the thousand already with the advance force in Anatolia, there would be six thousand cavalry in all. Another thirty three thousand hoplites, peltasts and light spearmen trickled in during the following week and then, finally, Alexander arrived with his two thousand Companions and the thousand civilian specialists and scribes.

  Iphitos, his staff, the pathfinders and the bematistae were crowded onto the first load to be ferried over the Hellespont by the fleet. Iphitos and his men set about finding and marking out encampments for the army as it arrived, then Iphitos set out for Ephesus to find the commander of the advance force to discover the latest situation.

  Surprisingly the Persians made no attempt to oppose the landings and ten days later the whole army was encamped on the Persian side of the Hellespont. Alexander crossed in the second wave and Hephaestion noticed that, unlike his troops who all looked back at the receding shores of Greece, Alexander kept his eyes on the approaching coast of Anatolia.

  He had left Macedon never to return.

  Epilogue

  Autumn 323 BC

  Chloe looked at her daughter and smiled. Frona was just fourteen and had nearly as fiery a temperament as her adopted sister sitting beside her. Enyo was telling Frona about some of the adventures she had enjoyed with Theon. Mention of his name still brought a tear to Enyo’s eyes, even twelve years after his death. She blinked it away and went on with the story of how they had met. Of course, Frona had heard it before but she never seemed to tire of hearing about Enyo’s life before she had given birth to the twins.

  Frona’s brother, Skylax was now sixteen and was an ephebe in training at the military academy in Pella together with the fourteen year old Orphion – the son of Attalus and Georgios’ wife, Troias. Chloe prayed that they wouldn’t be sent out to join the army in Persia yet. Alexander liked to have a supply of ephebes from Macedon to train with their Persian counterparts. Rumour had it that he now had thirty thousand Persians who had graduated from ephebe to hoplite or heavy cavalryman and that there were thousands more under training. Soon they would outnumber the Macedonians and Greeks in his army.

  At that moment there was a noise in the courtyard below and at first Chloe thought it was Enyo’s twin sons returning from the lyceum where they were educated alongside a dozen of their peers. However, it was too early for them have finished for the day. When she went down to see who had arrived she didn’t recognise the three men at first; after all it had been eleven years since she had last seen them. The older man had a beard that was nearly grey now but she recognised his eyes with a start. Iphitos had returned!

  After their joyful reunion, she suddenly realised that she had completely ignored the second man. At first she thought it was Georgios but she knew it coul
dn’t be. Iphitos had written to her to tell her of his death in the Hindu Kush between Bactria and Sogdiana. He had died alongside Parmenion’s son, Nicanor, of exposure whilst crossing the mountains.

  ‘Cyneus,’ she cried, realising that it was Georgios’ brother, who had taken over as her husband’s deputy after Georgios’ demise. The young man had lost little of his shyness but he returned Chloe’s welcoming hug as if he would never let go.

  Then she turned to the third new arrival, wondering who he could be. His sparse beard indicated that he was still a young man, no older than twenty. It wasn’t until she had studied his smiling face for a minute or so that she realised with a start that it had to be Ondrej. The last time she had seen him he had been nine so it wasn’t surprising that it had taken her so long to recognise the young man who now stood before her with a wide grin on his face. She hadn’t known him for that long before they had all left but he had made an indelible impression in that short time and Iphitos had often mentioned him in his letters, saying what an excellent aide he’d turned out to be.

  That evening, with the twins Theon and Barates present, Iphitos told them of Alexander’s death at Babylon on the tenth of June.

  ‘I’ve little doubt that he was probably poisoned, but you must never repeat that.’

  Alexander had never been satisfied with conquering the vast Persian Empire but had advanced into the Indian subcontinent and sent armies into the vast deserts of Arabia and north Africa, one of which was never seen again.

  In the end his men had mutinied and he’d been forced to return to Persia. Once there, he had given in to his mother’s importuning and agreed to replace Antipater as regent of Macedon. The man had started to act more like a king than a regent and Olympias was frightened that Alexander would be deposed in his absence. However, the man had sent his son, Cassander, one of Alexander’s boyhood companions, to plead his case to remain in post.

  Iphitos had caught Cassander looking at the king with hatred once or twice when he thought no-one was looking. With Alexander’s death Antipater could now remain as ruler of Macedon and Iphitos was certain in his own mind that Cassander was involved, if the king was indeed poisoned.

  ‘Wasn’t Hephaestion poisoned as well?’ Barates asked curiously. Theon nudged his brother in the ribs. ‘What? Everyone says that he was.’

  ‘Yes, but it is another sensitive matter. I was charged by Alexander with investigating it once he had recovered from his grief. He was determined that someone should pay for it. Personally I was convinced that it was Roxanne, Alexander’s queen; she was intensely jealous of the close relationship between the king and his friend, especially as Alexander far preferred Hephaestion’s company to that of his wife. However, that wasn’t what Alexander wanted to hear so I confirmed the official story that he had had a relapse whilst he was recovering from a fever.’

  ‘If Alexander is dead, why hasn’t news of it reached Pella?’ Chloe asked, puzzled.

  ‘It has, but Antipater obviously wants to keep it quiet whilst he consolidates his own position.’

  ‘Who’ll be king now? Alexander’s son?’ Theon asked curiously.

  ‘When I left it seemed likely that he would become Alexander the Fourth but there was a faction who supported the claim of Arrhidaeus, Alexander’s brother.’

  ‘But he’s not right in the head!’ Barates exclaimed.

  ‘No, but powerful men will use him as a figurehead and rule in his name. The same is true of Roxanne’s son. He was born just before I left Babylon and after Alexander had died and so, again, it is others who will use him and rule in his name.’

  Chloe looked at her husband.

  ‘It’s a mess, isn’t it? I don’t suppose that his empire will survive now?’

  ‘No,’ Iphitos sighed. ‘He was a great soldier but he died too early. His commanders and those he had appointed as satraps of provinces were already squabbling about who should rule what when I left.’ He paused for a moment and would have continued, but before he could Frona asked about Parmenion and his family.

  ‘Ah, now that is another tragedy. Hector drowned in the River Nile when he was just eighteen and some say that it was the king’s doing. Perhaps his aide knew too many of Alexander’s secrets? We’ll never know. Nicanor’s death with Georgios and numerous others was due to the king’s stupidity. Alexander couldn’t wait to cross the Hindu Kush until the weather improved. Weylin was another of those who died up there and I count myself lucky that I survived. I will say this for him though, he never tired in his efforts to get the army, or as much of it as he could, through the high snow-filled passes. What he did in the Hindu-Kush to save others would have killed a lesser man. As for Philotas…..’

  Iphitos sighed and rubbed his hand over his tired face.

  ‘He and some of the Companions thought that Alexander was favouring his Persian subjects at the expense of the Macedonians, and so they plotted to kill the king and replace him. I found out about it and warned Alexander. Philotas and the other conspirators were executed and, because Parmenion still commanded the reserves at the depot on the coast, Alexander couldn’t afford to risk him trying to avenge his son’s death. So he was assassinated on Alexander’s orders.’

  ‘Alexander confiscated his house here in Pella and his estates, leaving Troias and Orphion destitute. They continued to live here, of course, even after Georgios’ death, but Troias died of a fever a year later. As Orphion was Georgios’ stepson, I though you would want me to treat him as if he was our grandson.’

  Iphitos nodded. ‘Of course. Georgios treated him as his own son and, as he and Troias didn’t have any children, I arranged for him to be made Georgios’ heir. Alexander didn’t approve, but at least he didn’t make me rescind my decision.’

  ‘I don’t think that King Alexander sounds as if he was a very nice man,’ Frona commented, her expression of distaste disfiguring what was normally a very pretty face.

  ‘You don’t get to stay king and conquer most of the known world by being nice, darling.’ Her father told her with a smile. ‘He may not have been a very pleasant individual, but he was certainly a great one. It is just such a shame that he has left chaos behind him.’

  NOTES & GLOSSARY

  For information about the rank structure and units in the Greek armies in the fourth century BC please see the Author’s Note at the beginning of this book. A glossary explaining the Greek terms used in the novel is also included.

  Other Novels by H A Culley

  The Normans Series

  The Bastard’s Crown

  England in Anarchy

  Caging the Lyon

  Seeking Jerusalem

  Babylon Series

  Babylon – The Concubine’s Son

  Babylon – Dawn of Empire

  Individual Novels

  Magna Carta

  The Sins of the Fathers

  Robert the Bruce Trilogy

  The Path to the Throne

  The Winter King

  After Bannockburn

  Constantine Trilogy

  Constantine – The Battle for Rome

  Crispus Ascending

  Death of the Innocent

  Macedon Trilogy

  The Strategos

  The Sacred War

  AVAILABLE LATER IN 2016

  THE BASTARD’S SON

  A Hugo de Cuille Novel set in the time of King William Rufus. This the fifth novel in the Normans series, although chronologically it fits between the first – the Bastards’ Crown – and the second – England in Anarchy.

  DUE OUT EARLY SUMMER 2016

  WHITEBLADE

  H A Culley’s new historical novel about Oswald of Northumbria – King, Warrior and Saint.

  Set in seventh century Anglo-Saxon England it tells the story of the prince who began Northumbria’s golden age.

  DUE OUT AUTUMN 2016

  WENCESLAUS

  The true story of the saint immortalised in the Christmas carol who came to the throne of Bohemia in AD 921, when
he was only fourteen, up to his assassination by his brother in AD 935.

  DUE OUT IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS 2016

  About the Author

  H A Culley was born in Wiltshire in 1944 and entered RMA Sandhurst after leaving school. He was an Army officer for twenty four years during which time he had a variety of unusual jobs. He spent his twenty first birthday in the jungles of Borneo, commanded an Arab unit in the Gulf for three years, and was the military attaché in Beirut during the aftermath of the Lebanese Civil War.

  After leaving the Army he became the bursar of a large independent school for seventeen years before moving into marketing and fundraising in the education sector. He has served on the board of two commercial companies and several national and local charities. He has also been involved in two major historical projects. He recently retired as the finance director and company secretary of IDPE but remains on its board of trustees. He has always had a keen interest in history and began to write historical fiction after starting to give a series of talks on historical subjects locally.

  He has three adult children and one granddaughter and lives with his wife and two Bernese Mountain Dogs between Holy Island and Berwick upon Tweed in Northumberland.