Conquest of Persia

by Alexander Geiger

  Still, there were good reasons to allow some little violations of the Prime Directive. Simply as a decent human being, I had an obligation to Artakama, Barsine, Lanike, Kleitos, and all the other people in my orbit. How could it possibly be right and moral to subordinate the interests of all these people to some abstract injunction, to the point of letting some of them die? Where is the cutoff point for this directive? How many people is it OK to let die for the sake of this principle?

  I was treading a dangerous path, one that I’d scrupulously avoided stepping onto since the day I’d arrived in this era. The fact of the matter was that I had a lot of scientific knowledge and technological know-how that, if shared with this world, would improve the lives of countless people, perhaps an entire civilization. A civilization that had taken me in and given me advancements and important positions and that had, on the whole, treated me pretty well, especially considering I was an interloper and a rank outsider. Shouldn’t I share what I know?

  I shook my head. I knew better than that. How could I voluntarily undertake the risk of altering the entire future course of human history for the sake of what I might consider a benefit to one person in my current orbit or even a bunch of people or even this entire current civilization? Who had appointed me god? And besides, it was obvious I was just kidding myself because I wanted Artakama. I laughed. The power of the libido to subvert rational thinking was truly amazing. I realized with a start that I’d been fondling that other font of motivational thinking located at my groin. I snatched my hand away.

  The bottom line was that, to a near certainty, any time traveler was almost bound to violate the Prime Directive the moment he or she arrived in the past. Of course, if the change was slight, it didn’t matter. But that was a cop-out. Even the slightest change could have unforeseen consequences way out in the future. Meantime, this was no way to live. My activities were cramped in so many ways. My military effectiveness had been severely subverted; my love life was screwed up; my ability to be of use to the society in which I lived totally undermined.

  I knew I was just venting. I couldn’t possibly want to have on my conscience the destruction of my home world with the attendant possibility of millions of lives never coming into existence. But millions of other lives would come instead, possibly better lives. Should I simply ignore the Prime Directive from now on? No, I cannot play dice with the future.

  I resolved, once again, to adhere to the dictates of the Prime Directive as best I could and hope that any minor violations – ones that I had already committed and ones I was likely to commit in the years to come – would dampen out before causing too much change. One thing I knew for sure: Time travel was too risky; it put an impossible burden on any time traveler; and impermissibly gambled with the future of humanity. The hazards of time travel far outweighed the benefits. I resolved that, if I ever made it back home to my own era, I’d fight to ban time travel once and for all.

  *******

  The fires consuming the palace inflamed the passions of Alexandros. Long before the conflagration had died down, he was ensconced in Thais’s arms, enjoying her ministrations. As so often happened, he’d taken me along to stand guard outside the tent and make sure they weren’t disturbed.

  The sounds escaping through the flaps were different from the last time I had occupied a similar post. Missing were Barsine’s endearments and little sighs of pleasure. Missing were Alexandros’s forceful grunts and groans of release. Missing was the mutual enjoyment of each other’s company.

  Thais was the consummate professional. She knew what to touch and how to touch it. She was a master of the suggestive innuendo, the provocative giggle, the teasing flash of flesh, the lewd leer. She was adept at simulating transports of ecstasy and paroxysms of pleasure. She just wasn’t able to arouse Alexandros.

  The last thing I heard, before stealing quietly into the night, was Alexandros’s crestfallen, plaintive protest. “This has never happened to me before.”

  Author’s Note

  Ptolemaios, known to English-speaking historians as Ptolemy I, was born circa 364 B.C.E. (the date is disputed) and died circa 282 B.C.E. He accompanied Alexander III of Macedonia, also known as Alexander the Great, on his military campaigns, rising through the ranks to become one of Alexander’s leading commanders. Books One and Two of the Ptolemaios Saga covered the period 343 to 333 B.C.E. This volume carries the story forward to 330 B.C.E. It is the author’s hope to recount the history of Ptolemy to his death, and beyond, in subsequent volumes.

  Ptolemy left behind a memoir describing his experiences during Alexander’s campaigns. Unfortunately, Ptolemy’s memoir is now lost. However, a distant echo of Ptolemy’s history continues to reverberate in our collective memory because it was utilized as original source material by ancient historians writing during Roman imperial times, such as Lucius Flavius Arrianus (Arrian), Quintus Curtius Rufus (Curtius), and possibly Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus (Plutarch), whose works are still extant today. Modern histories of the period covered in this book are in turn based largely on these ancient Roman accounts.

  The Ptolemaios Saga is an attempt to reconstruct Ptolemy’s lost memoir. Of necessity, some of the narrative, much of the characterization, and almost all of the dialogue were invented by the author. However, all the principal characters mentioned in this book were actual historical figures; the major events really happened; and the minor characters and events interpolated by the author, it is hoped, do no violence to the historical record.

  The spelling of the characters’ names is an accurate transliteration of their names in Greek. The spelling of place names is inconsistent. Those places that have well-known English names have retained those names. Places less well known in the English-speaking world have been given their Greek names, transliterated into the English alphabet. The author regrets the inconsistency.

  Finally, although this is a true story, albeit embellished by the author, there is no historical evidence to suggest that Ptolemy I was a time traveler.

  April 15, 2019

  Alexander Geiger

  Additional Materials

  Additional materials, including sources, illustrations, maps, battle depictions, an author’s blog, and descriptions of upcoming volumes, are available at AlexanderGeiger.com.

  Acknowledgements

  The author wishes to express his gratitude to the following individuals who kindly read (and, in some cases, re-read) the manuscript of this novel and offered numerous helpful suggestions and corrections, ranging from fixing typographical errors to pointing out infelicitous phrasing to urging a restructuring of plotlines: Helene Geiger, Kathy McGowan, Alan Unsworth, Aviva Schwarz, David Schwarz, George Rifkin, Ken Krevitz, Joe Mazzetti, and Fran Noble. Special thanks to Scott Schmeer of Prometheus Training, LLC, for the cover design.

  Any remaining mistakes are attributable solely to the obduracy of the author.

  About the Author

  The author is a history buff who has always wished he could travel back in time to visit some of his favorite historical figures, places, and events. The entire Ptolemaios Saga is an account of one such extended trip, intended to witness the dawn of the Hellenistic world. The men and women who lived, strived, fought, and loved during this seminal age didn’t know their ideas, exploits, and accomplishments would reverberate all the way to the present day but, boy oh boy, did they leave a mark. Imagine being able to see, through the eyes of Ptolemaios Metoikos – who was actually there – all the adventures, sights, and colorful figures of that vibrant, memorable, and thrilling era. It’s the author’s hope that you will enjoy the ride.

  In real life, the author is a graduate of Princeton University and Cornell Law School and a retired commercial litigator. He lives with his wife in in Bucks County, PA.

  Please email all comments, questions, suggestions, or requests for author interviews and appearances to Alex@AlexanderGeiger.com.

  * * *

  [1] From The Dialogues of Plato, translated by B. Jowett (3rd e
d., Oxford University Press, 1892)

  [2] Each of the following characters is an actual historical figure. The numbers in parentheses refer to the year of birth and death of that figure, to the extent these dates are known. All years are B.C.E. In some cases, the actual dates are either uncertain or in dispute. In those cases, the year in question is preceded by a c. In a few cases, the actual dates are simply lost to the shifting sands of time.

  It is important to remember, however, that this is a work of fiction. The author has taken some liberties with a few of his characters. For example, the date of Kleitos’s birth is uncertain but he was probably several years older than depicted in this book. The reader should not draw any conclusions from the dates of death listed here about the lifespan, fate, date of death, or manner of demise of any character. To find the answers to all those questions, the reader should read the book. Simply looking at a List of Principal Characters would be just too easy.

  [3] “Aniketos” was Alexandros’s nickname. It meant “invincible.”

  [4] The Assyrian Empire had long since fallen to the combined assault of the Babylonians, Medes, and Persians. It was eventually absorbed into the Persian Empire. Two Persian satrapies, however, continued to use the name.

  [5] Dareios had taken his favorite wives, including his number one wife, Stateira, and their three children, as well as his mother, Sisygambis, on campaign with him. As a result, they had all been captured previously at Issos.

  [6] This was an unimaginable sum of money. Athens, at the height of its empire, collected less than 1,000 talents of gold a year from all of its allies and that tribute was sufficient not only to finance the Peloponnesian War but also the building programs of Perikles, which transformed Athens into the architectural wonder of the ancient world.

  [7] The Prime Directive was the paramount commandment drummed into the heads of all time travelers, to do nothing that might influence, interfere with, or change the future course of events.

  [8] The geographic term “Asia” had a somewhat variable meaning back then. To the Greeks, whose knowledge of Asia came principally from Herodotos, it covered a hazy expanse of land stretching eastward from the Aegean Sea but how far it extended, nobody knew. When Alexandros first crossed the Hellespont “to conquer Asia,” what he really meant was conquering the maritime provinces of Anatolia and, in his heart of hearts, he would have been pleased simply to gain control of the Troad and Ionia.

  [9] For the location of Myriandros and other places mentioned below, see Map 8 at AlexanderGeiger.com.

  [10] “Metoikos” was Ptolemaios’s nickname. It meant “traveler, alien, stranger, outsider.”

  [11] Sparta never became a member of the Hellenic League and its leaders had worked assiduously to undermine the League since the day Macedonia assumed a leading role in the League under King Philippos Deuteros.

  [12] See Map 9 at AlexanderGeiger.com for an outline of Old Tyros, New Tyros, and the causeway in between.

  [13] New Tyros had two excellent harbors: the Northern Harbor, which faced northeast, and the Egyptian Harbor, which faced southeast. For ships approaching from Sidon, the Northern Harbor was the closer of the two.

  [14] Zoroaster Era, calculated from Zoroaster’s purported date of birth

  [15] See Map 10 at AlexanderGeiger.com to trace the route traveled by Kallisthenes on his voyage of discovery.

  [16] For an animated depiction of the Battle of Gaugamela, visit AlexanderGeiger.com

  [17] See Map 11 at AlexanderGeiger.com for a sketch of Babylon.

  [18] Mithrines had been the Persian garrison commander of Sardeis when our army approached that city. He had not only turned over the city and its treasures to us but continued to tag along and assist in our campaigns ever since.

  [19] Alexandros had dispatched Amyntas to recruit reinforcements immediately after the sack of Tyros, some sixteen months earlier, to make up for the thousands of soldiers lost during the siege.

  [20] For the location of Persian satrapies mentioned in Dareios’s inscription, see Map 12 at AlexanderGeiger.com.