“It’s easy for you to say Megakreon tried his best. You have Melite! But why aren’t Eleni and Cilo here! It must have been just a matter of a few more drachmas! And he didn’t want to spend the money because he doesn’t think I’m important to the operation!”
Production was suffering and morale was suffering and finally I had to convince Megakreon to take Tros with him to see Cleon and beg for his family. Once he heard the refusal from Cleon’s own lips, he was able to refocus his anger towards Cleon and peace was restored to our little enterprise. This turned out to be the worst decision Cleon ever made, but, of course, he couldn’t know that at the time.
Luckily, our production problems caused a shortage of supply, which pushed up demand and allowed us to raise prices, so our progress hardly suffered. It’s good to have a monopoly on a luxury product.
One day Megakreon came to the distillery with exciting news. Pericles, the great man himself, a man famous for refusing to even attend parties, was going to throw a drinking party featuring our product! Megakreon had actually spoken with Pericles and had agreed to personally deliver 5 jars of our Robert Daniels Vodka.
Megakreon assured us that once it became known that Pericles drank our vodka, we would be able to sell twice as much for twice the price. He was already making plans for a third still and more assistants.
We loaded the jars onto his cart and sent him on his way. Things were going well. My books showed us almost having paid back all of Megakreon’s investment and on our way to earning profits. Freedom profits!
True to Megakreon’s predictions, demand went through the roof! Fotis started work on the new still and 3 new assistants arrives a few days later (soon to be new converts to Fotis’ church).
Things hummed along. Money rolled in. On the night we finally paid back all of Megakreon’s original investment we had a big feast on the farm. There was plenty of food (better than our usual gruel) and vodka! Usually I didn’t allow drinking on the farm, but I made an exception for special occasions. Only drinking on holy occasions was a part of the doctrine of Fotis church. The vodka was sacred.
Chapter 14
The light of the moon is reflected light from the sun.
Book of Questionable Facts – 661
Then disaster struck.
A temperance movement arose. Who knows what the real story is, but the tale I heard is that Pericles had become fond of our product and began to be a regular user. One day, after a night of heavy drinking, he had gone to visit his mistress Aspasia and despite her best efforts he had been unable to perform. Since, the story goes, Aspasia’s hold on Pericles was a result of her amazing sexual techniques, she immediately decided to work for a ban on Robert Daniels Vodka.
Megakreon was monitoring the situation as best he could. As a non-citizen (although a free man) he couldn’t attend the meetings of the council or the assembly, but his sources indicated that Aspasia (also a non-citizen and a woman to boot) wielded considerable power. She had influence through her position as Pericles’ mistress and gatekeeper as well as through her position as the owner of several popular brothels.
The result was that men who liked prostitutes or who wanted to gain access to Pericles (apparently a lot of men on both counts), often sought favors from Aspasia. And of course, once Aspasia did you a favor, you owed her one in return.
Pericles, himself, refused to take a public stand.
One day, Aspasia personally appeared at our table in the agora and (with surprising strength) overturned our table, breaking all our jars. There were no police or other government officials to protect honest businessmen such as ourselves. So, we hired private guards.
Then several days later, she came to our warehouse, like an ancient Carrie Nation, wielding a woodcutter’s ax. She was Pericles’ mistress, who was going to stop her? She just walked right in past our guards and began to break jar after jar.
While we lost a lot of product, sales kept up. Her crusade raised our profile again. Demand skyrocketed, we raised prices and kept selling. We moved sales operations into the shadows, which only seemed to make our customers more eager to buy.
Like all drug dealers (which is what we were), we found opposition to our product carried both advantages and disadvantages. We couldn’t sell in the marketplace, but nobody balked at our ever increasing prices. Our best customers denied using our product, and more customers than ever sought us out.
In some ways I agreed with Aspasia. Alcohol is dangerous and, maybe, distilled alcohol is more dangerous (maybe not). But I knew that distillation would be discovered one day with or without my help and, there was nothing I would not do to be free.
Seeing that her destructive efforts had little effect on our business, Aspasia turned to more persuasive methods.
One morning Megakreon discovered threatening graffiti scrawled on his front door. It frightened him enough that he moved his household out to the farm.
This, too, had the odd effect of helping us. Koré soon became Melite’s lieutenant and together they found ways to increase our efficiency, raising our output. Isodemos, our scholar, discovered a love of metal working and helped Fotis build a new, larger, still as well as a charcoal filtering system that improved our product quality.
Megakreon’s son, Philon, became the farm favorite and helped in dozens of little ways.
Even Penelope, Megakreon’s new, pretty slave girl, helped tend the fermentation vats.
But Aspasia wasn’t content with making threats, Tros was attacked and beaten one evening as he was in the city making purchases. His injuries were serious and he became the first person to benefit from our vodka’s antiseptic properties.
“Damn! That stuff hurts more than when they beat me!”
“Fine, next time, I’ll let you die of infection.”
“I think I’d rather!”
Still, he avoided infection and healed quickly and was soon back to work. Now he travels with a bodyguard.
One day, Megakreon came to the farm. He found me in the corner of the distillery building where I had set up a makeshift desk.
“Robert, we need to talk.”
“Tell me.”
“My sources say that Aspasia has assembled enough support in the council to move against us officially.”
“Do you know what she plans exactly?”
“No, but most likely, she’ll start by banning sales of vodka in the city and allied cities. Then, I hear, she will have a case brought against you personally. Probably on a charge of corrupting the public morals and also impiety. This new god of yours, will be a problem.”
“What kind of penalty am I looking at, if found guilty?”
“Anything really. She’ll probably ask for death.”
“Death? That’s a pretty harsh penalty! Do we have any influence? Can we bribe people or otherwise stop the council from acting?”
“We have some influence on the council. But, nobody will want to vote against Aspasia openly. The best we can hope for is a delay.”
“Ok, do what you can. A delay may give things time to cool down.”
“You don’t know Aspasia. She’ll never back down. Never relent.”
“Do what you can. Keep me posted on any new developments.”
“Ok. I’ll head back to the city today and talk to our friends on the council. Tros is well enough to travel so, I’ll send him back tomorrow or the next day with any news.”
“Great. Thanks.”
Tros came out 2 days later with the news that our council members would delay any resolution at least 15 days.
We brought the new still online and stepped up production. We wanted to have a big store of product ready in case of a ban so that we could go underground. We were so close to being free. Another couple of months and I would have my freedom and enough money for Tros and Melite and (hopefully) Eleni and Cilo! So close! We just needed more time.
But time was what we didn’t have.
Just 3 days later a messenger came from Megakreon.
&n
bsp; I called a general meeting.
“We’ve lost to Aspasia. The council has voted a ban on sales and production of vodka. Aspasia has brought charges of impiety and corrupting public morals against me. Men will come from the city tomorrow to arrest me. I’m to be tortured and if found guilty, probably executed. Megakreon too.
“Megakreon is on his way here now and should arrive within a few hours.
“What are our options?”
Everyone started talking at once.
“Let’s run away. We can hide in the mountains.”
“Let’s fight. How many men can they send? We have 9 men here. Let’s arm ourselves.”
“Maybe if we give you to them, they’ll let Megakreon go. He has a family to think of.”
“Quiet! Quiet!” Tros shouted everyone down.
“I’ve been planning for this for a while now. Once Aspasia set her mind against us, it was only a matter of time. I’ve made contact with the council in Megara. They’ve offered us a farm outside the city, if we relocate our operation. They’ve agreed to recognize Jack Daniels as the god of Vodka and offer us sanctuary. Everything is ready. We can start up operations again.”
Everyone was stunned. Me too. But the silence only lasted for a few minutes. Soon everyone was talking and arguing. We were still at it hours later when Megakreon arrived.
Megakreon asked for quiet and addressed the group. “It’s too dangerous for us here. If we stay, almost certainly Robert and I will be killed and the rest of you sold to the mines. Tros’ plan is our best hope. Anyone who wants to, can stay here, but Philon and I are going to Megara. Those of you who are my slaves have the same choice. I’m freeing you all as of this moment. Those of you who are slaves of others, can choose to run away with us.”
Everybody, except Penelope, voted to flee to Megara.
Tros explained to me that Megara was about a 2 days trip from the farm (a trip I’d made in the taxi in about half an hour). And crucially, Megara was aligned with Sparta, Athens’ chief rival for power in Greece, and so could offer us protection.
“Ok Everybody pack what you can! We leave before nightfall! Tros, Fotis, Megakreon, come with me. We have a special job.”
So, while the others packed, we four set about systematically destroying everything. We piled jars of high proof vodka and firewood and equipment in the center of the distillery building and as soon as everything was packed on the carts we set it aflame.
We were about 15 minutes out when we heard the first of the explosions. They continued every few minutes like popcorn until we were out of earshot. At least there would be nothing left for them to find. We still had the monopoly on the market and now we were free!
As we walked, Megakreon and Tros and I talked about our plans.
“How much money do we have?” I asked
Megakreon replied “I’ve got most of our earnings with me. About 9,000 drachmas. Plus Tros told me about his plan earlier and I sent an additional 25,000 drachmas to friends in Megara a few weeks ago. We’ll be able to rebuild. Bigger and better!”
“I’m sorry about this. You’ve lost your house and Penelope and you’re a fugitive. All because you trusted me.”
“Nonsense! I’ve never felt better! This is the adventure I became a merchant to have! We’re going to make so much money that Athens will beg us to come back and Megakreon will spit in their faces!”
Tros broke in. “Thank you for my freedom. You’ve always been fair to me. I’ll pay you the price agreed.”
“No need my friend! We are going to be so wealthy that 500 drachmas will be too little to worry about!”
“Still, I’ll pay you back. Now, I just need to raise enough to buy Eleni and Cilo.”
“I’m sorry about that. Cleon’s been most unreasonable.”
“If only he had rented them to us! We would be going to Megara together!”
“Don’t worry Tros. You can have every oblo of my share until you can buy them.” I told him.
He put his arms around our shoulders, the three of us together for the first time as three free men, and we walked on to Megara.
In Megara everything was waiting. Megakreon and Tros had sent runners ahead and when we reached the new farm, there was enough copper sheets, charcoal, jars and grain to restart operations. In about a month and a half we produced our first batch. Soon we were operating 6 stills and had a staff of 25. Each new helper was initiated into the cult and sworn to secrecy.
We sold our Robert Daniels brand vodka in the city of Megara and in neighboring cities. We keep up sales, though illegally, in Athens. Even though sales volume was down in Athens more than 50% our profits were up more than 200%. I almost sent Aspasia a letter thanking her for the price support. But… don’t poke the bear.
Money rolled in and now that Tros and I were free, we soon had enough to try and buy Eleni and Cilo.
We couldn’t return to Athens, but we sent a friend of Tros’ as an emissary. We were prepared to offer up to 5000 drachmas for their freedom. This was more than 10 times their original price. We were confident that they would be joining us in just a few weeks.
We waited anxiously for word. Tros’ friend returned in 5 days.
“Cleon says that he would love to sell them to you. Unfortunately, he already sold them!”
“Sold them! To who?!”
“He sold them to Aspasia! I tried to talk to her to see if she would sell them, but she refused to see me!”
Tros put his head in his hands. “Aspasia hates us! She’ll never sell! And she’s rich enough to turn down any offer.”
I put my hand on his arm. “Don’t give up hope. We’ll keep trying. And we’ll raise as much money as it takes. Rich people like money too. She’s just waiting for us to raise our price.”
“If she won’t sell, maybe we can kidnap them?”
“We have the money to send a team, but I worry that Eleni or Cilo might be hurt in the escape. And if the attempt failed, who knows what Aspasia might do to them.”
He hung his head, as if ashamed not to have thought of the problems with his plan. “You’re right. It’s just so frustrating!”
“I know.”
The next day Megakreon offered to lend us an additional 6000 drachmas so we sent our emissary back. And again she said no.
The work continued. We expanded the distillery and branched out into lamp fuel and antiseptic ointments.
More than a year passed. The distillery now was a giant complex. We had built 15 more stills and buildings for storage, fermentation and bottling. We marketed our products all over Greece and, using Megakreon’s contacts, Asia Minor.
We were fabulously wealthy, and the city of Megara, in recognition of the enormous impact we had on the economy, offered citizenship to all our people.
We had a staff of over 150. All of them had been slaves. We’d bought them and set them all free. But because we’d also bought and freed their families (as many as we could find) our compound held over 500 people. It was a small village.
We purchased the surrounding farms, and built dormitories (much nicer than the ones I’d slept in as a slave, with private rooms and flush toilets!) and dining halls and a myriad of services were being offered.
I also purchased a farm several miles away where I built a laboratory to experiment away from sight.
I was pretty happy and satisfied. I wouldn’t have changed a thing, until everything changed.
I was working with Isodemos in the accounting office when Melite found me.
“I’ve been looking all over for you. I need to talk to you.”
“Ok. What’s up?”
“In private.” She grabbed my hand impatiently and pulled me outside.
I was worried. She seemed angry or nervous. What had I done?
“Ok. Now we’re in private. What’s going on? Are you mad at me?”
She took a deep breath and said in a rush. “I’m not mad at you. I love you and we’re going to have a baby!” And she started to cry.
&n
bsp; I was stunned. At 54 (maybe almost 55 – but I wasn’t sure how the dates worked or how much time had passed and anyway I wouldn’t even be born for thousands of years.) I was going to be a father! “Baby? How?”
“You know how! If you don’t want it let me know and I’ll leave!”
“What?”
“I can leave! I’m a free woman! Thanks for that! And thanks for the baby!” And she turned and ran off.
I ran after her and caught her arm, but she pulled free. “Stop! Just stop!” I shouted and she stopped. “I want it! I want it more than I ever imagined!” And I caught her in my arms and kissed her and never wanted to let her go.
“Really?”
“Really!”
“Oh! I was so worried. We never talked about it! And I just assumed you wouldn’t want it or me anymore.” And she was crying again.
“I want you for always. And I want our child. Maybe even more than one!”
“One baby at a time.”
“Ok.”
And for a few days my happiness was complete. Marred only by our continuing inability to free Eleni and Cilo. But as soon as the initial excitement wore off, I began to worry.
Was this the world I wanted for my child? I needed to make things better. Make the whole damn world a better place for my child.
We had a school in the compound. And all the children, as well as many of the adults were taught to read and write and do basic math. I had introduced them to Arabic numbers and zero.
Now, I started a special course of study.
Intro to the Scientific Method:
“Hello class. This class is introduction to the scientific method and experimental design. Here we are going to learn how to discover things about the natural world.
“The scientific method is the most powerful technique for gaining knowledge. Everything we do here at the distillery is the direct result of the scientific method.
“The elements of the scientific method are: Observation, Hypothesis, Experiment, and Analysis.
Let’s start with observation…
Next, I went to see Isodemos about some special projects.
I’d taught him modern numbers and double entry accounting and he was in charge of our finances and purchasing. I needed him to find me some special things and hire some traveling merchants to search for things for me that I didn’t know where to get. Some things for the school, chemicals and balls and so on for class experiments, some stuff for my private projects.
A New York Lawyer in the Court of Pericles Page 10