Selene of Alexandria

by Justice, Faith L.

  "Phillip!" She ran to her brother, then spied another standing behind him. "Rebecca! I'm so happy we get to say goodbye."

  "You know I could never let you leave without seeing you one last time." Rebecca's lips trembled. "You don't have to do this alone you know. Please come with us to Judea."

  Selene had promised herself no tears at this parting. But moisture leaked from the corners of her eyes. She sniffed and dashed the unwanted tears away with the back of her good hand.

  Both put arms around Selene and escorted her to the sitting room. Demetrius discreetly stayed behind to attend her packing.

  "You aren't going to make this easy, are you?"

  "Did you expect us to let you go into the world alone without a fight?" Phillip put a protective arm around Rebecca and said solemnly, "We have enough from father's estate and Orestes' gift to purchase a small farm or business. You can practice medicine in Judea as well as anyplace else."

  Rebecca took Selene's hand in both of hers. "We want you to come with us. We are going to a new place, where none know us. We can tell others you are my sister, for that is what you truly are."

  A shadow crossed Selene's face. "I cannot go with you."

  Disappointment twisted Phillip's mouth. "In the name of Jesus and his holy mother Mary, can you tell me why?"

  "Is this proper language from a prospective Jew?" Selene laughed as Phillip colored.

  "A life-time of habit is hard to break," he mumbled.

  Rebecca paled. "Is that why you won't go with us? Do you disapprove of Phillip's conversion?"

  "Oh, no, Rebecca," Selene cried. "I love you both and would not let such a thing come between us, ever!" She shook her head. "This has only to do with me, not you."

  "Is it Orestes?" Phillip's face brightened. "Are you going with him?"

  "No. Orestes has chosen a different path. One, I fear, that will lead to his destruction."

  "My friend has changed much in the past weeks." Phillip sighed. "He keeps me at a distance and has relieved me of all my duties. He's been generous in providing me with letters and references to his acquaintances in Judea. I had held out some hope he might care for you in your exile."

  Rebecca added, "Orestes does not look well."

  Selene nodded, worry lines creasing her forehead. "Grief eats his heart and failure his soul. He won't let anyone comfort him, but tries to bear all his pain alone. He is resigning his office and retiring to his estates in Gaul. I fear for his health and peace of mind."

  "That does not explain your refusal to join us," Phillip said.

  Selene walked to the window and looked across the lush garden, warm sunshine bathing her face. Just a short time ago, nothing could have driven her from her home, but so much happened. So many deaths. There was nothing to hold her to this city except fear of the unknown and that held little terror for her in the wake of the last several months. Instead, the unknown future beckoned with possibility. She needed to move on, but exchanging the deserts of Egypt for those of Judea did not appeal to her. She turned back to her brother and her heart's sister.

  "I want to leave this part of the world. I want to see other lands, perhaps touch snow or trek through a forest. I am free now to do as I wish. Besides, Nicaeus deserves to know the truth about what happened here. I'll go first to his post on the Thracian border. Write to him when you're settled and I will get the word. Then…" she shrugged, brave words masking a tremulous doubt "…maybe Constantinople, maybe Londinium."

  "Oh, no, Selene," Rebecca cried. "Not so far away as that?"

  Phillip gathered Selene in his arms, but did not argue. "When you are ready to stop wandering, come to us," he whispered in her hair. "We wouldn't want our children to grow up never knowing their aunt."

  Rebecca joined the embrace, tears streaming. "Stay safe, sister, and remember you will always have a home with us."

  Selene wandered the empty rooms restlessly. Movement still soothed her. She would never attain Hypatia's serenity. Her teacher could sit for hours working out a math problem or writing a treatise on the stars. The memory sent a sharp pain through her chest. Sometimes the sense of loss throbbed like an open wound, but more and more often lately, it felt duller, subdued, distant.

  Someone cleared his throat.

  Selene turned, a shy smile crossing her face. "Orestes, it's good of you to see me off." Even though Demetrius had concocted a story about a new mistress, any servant with half an eye knew Orestes rarely visited her and then only for a few moments, occasionally, before he went to his office.

  At first Selene had not minded. Her arm caused her pain and she considered her bruised face and body ugly. She needed time and solitude to heal. But as the weeks went by, Orestes continued to be politely correct to her, refused to confide his own pain and loss. Selene concluded he was too deeply wounded for her to heal. A wound of the body, she could treat, but curing this sickness of the soul eluded her.

  Orestes handed Selene a packet of papers. "I've prepared travel documents, drafts on my personal accounts for funds, and letters of introduction to important people in Constantinople attesting to your medical skills. I've said you are a freedwoman so your station more befits your profession. My acquaintances can help you set up a practice or gain a position in one of the hospitals for women."

  Selene set the papers aside without looking at them. "Have you nothing else to say to me?"

  Orestes looked stricken. He dropped to one knee, took her hand and bowed his head over it. His voice came harsh and halting. "I hope, my dear Selene, you can find it in your heart to forgive me someday."

  Confused, Selene dropped to the floor in front of him and looked into his face, eyes wide. "For what? You've been a steadfast champion and firm friend to my family."

  "I underestimated Cyril from the beginning. I thought him young, inexperienced, without support in the Church." His eyes filmed with tears. "Had I been more astute, you and your family would be secure in your home. Had I been more able, Hypatia might be alive today."

  "You did what you thought best at the time. Whether your actions hastened or retarded Cyril's success, we have no way of knowing. I don't need to forgive you, Orestes. You need to forgive yourself. I fear for you, if you don't."

  His shoulders shook with stifled sobs. Selene prayed her words helped heal his heart. He collected himself, rose and helped Selene to her feet. She looked deeply into his eyes, and saw only bitterness and self-loathing – no self-forgiveness. Regret for what might have been and sadness at her failure – and his – pervaded her soul.

  Orestes clasped her to his chest. She clung to his strong body and sheltering arms. He stepped away from her, echoing her thoughts, "If only things had been different..."

  Knowing there was nothing more she could do, Selene touched his haggard face and whispered, "I hope you find peace, my friend."

  "Maybe…in time." He clasped her hand in both of his, his sight turning inward. "I have a strange feeling we will meet again, Selene. My mother's people were renowned as seers. Maybe I see truly."

  "I hope so."

  Without tears, she retrieved her hand. Selene gave Orestes a final smile, turned and walked through the door without looking back.

  *****

  Author's Note

  Hypatia, Cyril, Orestes, Hierex, Archdeacon Timothy, Ammonius, and the presbyter Peter did exist and participate in these events, although I used "literary license" in portraying their physical appearance, dialog and the details of their relationships. Selene, her family, friends and servants are entirely fictitious. I created them to show how the decisions and actions of the powerful are played out in ordinary people's lives. All the major events – the riots leading up to Cyril's affirmation, the consolidation of the Christians, the Jewish trap and consequent expulsion, the attack on Orestes, and Hypatia's murder – as well as many minor events, are documented..

  I first came across this fascinating story of ambition, power, and political assassination in 1980 while attending Judy Chicago's groundbre
aking feminist art exhibit "The Dinner Party" where Hypatia, the Lady Philosopher of Alexandria, had a "plate." Captured by the inherent drama of Hypatia's life and death, I embarked on a journey to bring her story to modern readers. During the next seventeen years I haunted libraries, bookstores, and the internet looking for more material to fill out the sketchy and conflicting details available.

  Hypatia had captured the imaginations of many before me and had become a metaphor in literature for the brilliance of the Classical Age and depravity of the coming Dark Ages. Most stories painted a legend of a beautiful, virginal, young woman cut down by fanatical monks. She was particularly popular in the Age of Enlightenment.

  In 1720, the Protestant John Toland published an essay titled Hypatia or, the History of a Most Beautiful, Most Virtuous, Most Learned, and in Every Way Accomplished Lady; Who Was Torn to Pieces by the Clergy of Alexandria, to Gratify the Pride, Emulation, and Cruelty of the Archbishop, Commonly but Undeservedly Titled St. Cyril. Ecclesiastic circles responded with a pamphlet by Thomas Lewis called The History of Hypatia, A Most Impudent School-Mistress of Alexandria. In Defense of Saint Cyril and the Alexandrian Clergy from the Aspersions of Mr. Toland.

  In recent times Hypatia has evolved into a feminist icon; a woman mathematician and scientist celebrated for her rationality and intelligence, destroyed by superstitious, barbarous men. She appears in several biographies of women in science and mathematics as well as more light-hearted tomes such as Uppity Women of Ancient Times by Vicki Leon where she is described as "The world's first martyr to mathematics."

  Sorting through the hyperbole, I found a compelling voice in the work of Maria Dzielska, a Polish classical scholar. Ms. Dzielska does a masterful job in reviewing the literary heritage of Hypatia's story and going to primary sources to present a more realistic and much less biased historical picture in Hypatia of Alexandria, translated by F. Lyra and published by Harvard University Press in 1995. It's her version of Hypatia's life that I have expressed in this work. Without Ms. Dzielska's meticulous research, this would be a very different book.

  Cyril appears in the record as a Machiavellian character more enamored of power than of God. His contemporaries laud his political acumen. His earliest acts were to eliminate those factions that opposed his appointment including other Christian sects and the Jews. Having read translations of his letters and speeches, I chose to show his motivation rooted in a true religious experience.

  There is no proof that Cyril ordered the death of Hypatia. Contemporary sources both condemn him on the basis of jealousy and exonerate him on the basis of mob violence. I chose the interpretation that he wished to discredit Hypatia, but, in his youth and inexperience, underestimated the extent of his power. However, given the bloody times and lack of repercussions for Hypatia's death; he probably was pleased with the outcome.

  Little is known of Orestes other than the dates of his administration, his admiration for Hypatia, and the attack by the Nitrian monks. There is some controversy over whether he survived the attack, but Dzielska believed he did and was either recalled or resigned after Hypatia's death. I created a background and early history for Orestes that enhanced my story.

  I included in the story a number of places from recent archeological digs such as the glassmakers' shop, theater, classrooms, tombs, monasteries and cisterns. Most of the cisterns were filled in at some time, but when is unknown. I chose to have them available for Selene's escape. Other minor events such as the couple divorcing because of demonic influence and the fire-walking priest are taken from actual incidents, but not necessarily during this three-year time period.

  There seems to be a great deal of confusion over the nature and extent of the Great Library of Alexandria and when it was destroyed. Some claim it burned during a Roman attack in 48 B.C., others that Theophilus burned it with the Serapeum in A.D. 391, and still others that Islamic invaders burned the remnants when they took Alexandria in A.D. 641. There is considerable evidence that large cities such as Alexandria had several public libraries available to scholars, students, and private citizens. I chose to go with the researchers who claim the Roman and Christian attacks destroyed "sister" libraries and by the time the Islamic burning, the Great Library had dwindled due to neglect (bugs, theft, deterioration) to a much smaller collection of mostly Christian texts.

  The Museum, of which Hypatia was a member, was one of the great learning centers of antiquity and attracted scholars from all over the world to study philosophy, mathematics, science, nature, literature, and medicine. The original buildings were part of a magnificent palace complex, which took up nearly one-third of the land inside the walls of Alexandria and contained The Great Library, scholars' living quarters, classrooms, a zoo and gardens with exotic plants. This complex was destroyed during Diocletian's reign; however, there is substantial evidence that the Museum and its library continued in other buildings, possibly in the vicinity of the Caesarion, originally a pagan temple complex in the harbor area, but later converted to a Christian church.

  For a complete bibliography, essays, and information on my other writing, please visit my website at www.faithljustice.com. Thank you for reading this book. I hope you enjoyed it. If you have comments or questions, contact me through my website.

  About the Author

  Faith L. Justice is a science geek and history junkie who has worked as a lifeguard, paralegal, computer systems analyst, human resources executive, and college professor. She writes in her historic land marked home “The Suffragette House” in Brooklyn, New York where she lives with her husband, daughter and the required gaggle of cats. For fun, she likes to dig in the dirt – her garden and various archaeological sites.

  Ms. Justice's award-winning short stories and poems have appeared in such publications as Circles in the Hair, Alternate Realities, Pirate Writings Magazine, and Beyond Science Fiction and Fantasy. She’s published over fifty articles in such venues as Salon.com, Writer's Digest, The Copperfield Review, and A Cup of Comfort for Parents of Children with Autism. Ms. Justice is a frequent contributor to Strange Horizons, Associate Editor for Space and Time Magazine, and a co-founder of a writer’s workshop which celebrated its twentieth anniversary in 2010.

  Contact Faith Online:

  Website: www.faithljustice.com

  Blog: Historian's Notebook

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