The Strategos

by H A CULLEY

  The cavalry chased them briefly and then returned to their initial position on the flanks of Parmenion’s army. The peltasts also took up their original position. Pausanius had lost a thousand peltasts for the loss of less than a hundred Macedonians.

  The fleeing peltasts were in for a nasty shock. As they entered the hills they were rounded up by Orestes’ cavalry and, those who hadn’t already thrown away their weapons, were disarmed. Leaving a hundred men to guard the prisoners, Orestes led his men south, erupting onto the plain just as Pausanius’ hoplites engaged those of Parmenion.

  The sudden appearance of a second Macedonian army unnerved their enemy and the right hand chiliarch turned to face the rapidly advancing enemy peltasts. At that moment both Parmenion and Orestes ordered their cavalry to advance. Instead of charging into the flanks of the enemy hoplite formations, they ignored them and made for the enemy cavalry and Pausanius himself, who was sitting on his horse with his staff near to them.

  It suddenly dawned on him that he was their target and he turned to flee, but his own cavalry were in the way. The latter were looking at the charging enemy with horror, waiting desperately for the order to counter-charge, but it never came. Pausanius was far too concerned about saving his own skin to realise that his one hope of doing that was to lead his men against the rapidly approaching Macedonian horsemen.

  The latter hit the stationary enemy cavalry and shattered their formation, such as it was. They were outnumbered and the unarmoured Thracians were no match for the Macedonians. The battle broke up into a myriad of individual fights and the battling cavalrymen swirled around Pausanius as he desperately tried to fight his way clear.

  He killed two Macedonians by stabbing them as they fought someone else and had nearly reached the edge of the fighting when he was confronted by a man wearing a Macedonian lion’s head helmet with a crest stained in wide yellow and black stripes. The man’s shield displayed the device of the royal house of Macedon. There was no way past him as more Macedonian horsemen came to take up position on either side of him.

  An evil grin distorted Orestes’ normally handsome face, hidden by the cheek pieces of the ornate lions head helmet, as he realised that he had been lucky enough to come face to face with the man he and his men had been ordered to find and kill. Perdiccas was well aware that Pausanius would continue to pose a threat to his throne whilst he was still alive and Parmenion had agreed with him that the pretender had to die. If he was killed in battle it would cause the minimum amount of fuss.

  Orestes held up his spear to indicate to his men that this fight was to be one-to-one; then he threw away his spear as Pausanius was only armed with sword and shield. He drew his sword with a rasp of iron on the bronze lip of the scabbard and kicked his heels into the sides of his mount, never once taking his eyes off Pausanius’ face. Orestes’ eyes bore into those of his adversary and the other man was mesmerized by them for a moment, then he realised his mistake and barely raised his shield in time to ward off the other’s first blow.

  Instead of riding past him and turning to make another attack, as Pausanius had expected, Orestes turned his horse into that of the pretender and shoulder charged it. The other stallion staggered and Pausanius had trouble in keeping his seat. His left leg was trapped between the two horses and his shield was useless as Orestes had lent over and was pulling it towards him.

  Pausanius tried to stab at Orestes with the sword in his free hand but he had to reach across his own body to do so and the blow lacked both power and sufficient reach. The same problem didn’t apply to Orestes and he thrust his sword around the other’s shield and into his groin. Pausanius doubled over in agony and lay along his horse’s neck, trying to fight the pain. A second later Orestes moved away slightly so that he could manoeuver his sword arm freely, then he brought it down hard, chopping half way through the pretender’s neck and causing the horse to rear up in reaction to the sudden pressure on its neck. Pausanius was already dead as he was catapulted over his horses’ rear to land in a crumpled, bloody heap on the ground.

  -o0o-

  The victory greatly enhanced the reputations of both Perdiccas, now seventeen, and Parmenion. Ptolemy realised that in less than a year the king would reach his majority and then he would lose what power he had left. Furthermore, Parmenion’s position as strategos would be unassailable. Consequently he came to the conclusion that killing Perdiccas was the only way for him to continue to rule, this time in the name of the absent Philip.

  However, that would only get him another fifteen months in power before Philip too became an adult, so he started secret negotiations with Thebes for them to keep Philip a hostage for longer than the three years that had been agreed.

  Ptolemy had made several mistakes but his most serious error was to underestimate Eurydice. She had long since fallen out of love with her husband and now loathed him. He was never very good at keeping secrets from her and, although she lacked any evidence, she knew in her heart that he was behind the murder of her eldest son. Now she strongly suspected that he planned to do away with Perdiccas. Of course, it was just her intuition at work, but she had learned to trust it over the years. She decided that the best way of preserving her son’s life was to eliminate Ptolemy and she began to consider how that might be achieved.

  When the request came for Parmenion to meet Eurydice in secret the strategos was suspicious. He couldn’t think why Eurydice would want to see him, especially covertly. She had always made her dislike of him obvious and so he suspected a trap. Eventually he decided to keep the rendezvous but he took Orestes with him and both went armed and armoured.

  The venue for the meeting was the temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, beauty and sexuality, in the woods to the north of Pella. When the two got there they discovered Eurydice was already there with a man. He stayed in the shadows at the back of the temple but Orestes told Parmenion later that he was fairly sure by his stance and build that it was King Perdiccas.

  ‘Good evening, Eurydice. I’ve come as you requested. Why did you want a secret meeting?’

  ‘I asked you to come alone.’

  ‘Orestes is my oldest friend and I trust him with my life. I have no secrets from him.’

  ‘No, but I do. Please ask him to wait outside, and out of earshot.’

  ‘Why? I will only tell him what transpires here after we leave. It would be simpler to allow him to stay. If he goes, I go. I’m sorry but I don’t trust you. We have never been on cordial terms and your husband detests me.’

  At this point the man in the shadows stepped forward to murmur in Eurydice’s ear and Orestes saw that his guess had been correct; it was indeed the king. Both men saluted and stood to attention, but Perdiccas waved his hand to indicate that it wasn’t necessary and they relaxed again. After a few minutes whispered conversation with his mother, the king stepped back into the shadows.

  ‘Very well. Orestes may stay but both of you must swear to me and to my son that nothing that is said here will be repeated once you leave. You mustn’t even discuss it between the two of you unless you are well away from prying eyes and ears.’

  ‘Of course, kyria. We will be absolutely discreet. Now, what it is that that you want that is so dangerous that such precautions are necessary?’

  Eurydice sighed. ‘I fear that Ptolemy intends to assassinate the king, as he did with Alexander. It is only a suspicion but why else would be he be asking the Thebans to keep Philip hostage indefinitely?’

  ‘You’re certain of this? About Philip I mean?’

  ‘Yes, I have agents in Thebes, mainly to keep an eye on my youngest son, but they also tell me anything else that they hear that might be important. One overheard an envoy from Ptolemy talking to Epaminondas when he was serving them wine. He went on to say that Ptolemy offered a treaty of perpetual alliance as the price of doing as he requested.’

  ‘What did Epaminondas reply?’

  ‘My contact didn’t know but he said that Ptolemy’s man seemed to be in a foul moo
d when he left, so I assume that his request was rejected.’

  Parmenion thought for a moment and then he and Orestes retired a short distance to speak together quietly. When they returned Parmenion had had an idea.

  ‘The Thebans are rumoured to be building a fleet of a hundred galleys so that they can challenge Athens at sea as well as on land, but they are short of suitable timber. On the other hand Macedon has forests of the stuff. I suggest that Perdiccas offers to sell them timber at a fair price in return for Philp’s early return. We can also offer a treaty of perpetual alliance to counter Ptolemy’s offer, just in case your agent got it wrong.’

  Eurydice nodded her head eagerly. ‘Yes, that’s a brilliant idea. With Philip back in Macedon he would be hard pressed to kill both of them and expect to get away with it.’

  ‘Maybe so, but Ptolemy has proved to be a dangerous viper who is only interested in keeping power for himself. Who knows what scheme he will come up with next? His continuing existence is hardly in Macedon’s best interests. He needs to die, and die quickly.’

  This time is was Orestes who spoke. Parmenion was slightly surprised at the ruthlessness in his friend’s voice but, however much he might detest murder, it seemed the most sensible course of action.

  The two soldiers took their leave after agreeing that Orestes and Perdiccas would meet alone to agree on how Ptolemy was to be killed. It was a pity that they hadn’t decided on a plan of action before Ptolemy made the first move in the perilous game they were all playing.

  -o0o-

  In the end the Thebans agreed to the new treaty of alliance in exchange for purchasing the timber they needed for their ship-building programme, but they insisted on keeping Philip and his thirty Companions until the end of the three years as previously agreed. They pointed out, quite reasonably, that his early release would only alert Ptolemy to their secret agreement.

  By now Philip felt that he had learned everything useful that he was going to from Epaminondas and he was itching to return to Macedon. As his seventeen birthday approached he grew even more restless and Epaminondas kicked him out of his household as being too much of an annoyance to have around.

  Now Philip and his fellow hostages were housed in a military academy and were kept busy training with the other ephebes. At the end of each day he was too exhausted to feel restless and he became fitter and lost the weight he had put on as Epaminondas’ guest. On the day that his brother turned eighteen he wondered what Ptolemy would do. He couldn’t imagine the man giving up his power that easily and he suspected that he would continue to try and control Perdiccas. What Ptolemy did next came as a complete shock.

  Ptolemy had finally decided to act and he had poisoned Eurydice. It took her three days to die in agony and a cold implacable hatred for the man replaced the fear with which Perdiccas regarded him up to that point. The king wasn’t a strong character and Philip was probably right when he thought that, had that not have happened, Ptolemy would have retained his influence over the king.

  Instead Perdiccas ordered Orestes to arrest Ptolemy and charge him with his mother’s murder. There was little evidence of his guilt but the former regent readily confessed to arranging the deaths of both Alexander and Eurydice under torture. His supporters had started to gather an army and civil war threatened so Parmenion advised the king to put Ptolemy on trial quickly.

  It hadn’t taken much to break Ptolemy – just the removal of his finger nails and his scrotum. The wound left by the latter had been cauterised and so there was little physical sign of the agony he had suffered by the time that he was brought before the Macedonian Assembly. Once he had confessed, his former supporters couldn’t wait to distance themselves from him, and even his home city of Alorus disowned him.

  It was an unusually cold and wet day when he was taken out into the agora to be executed. Perdiccas had decided to use a brutal method first invented by the Athenians two centuries before called the Brazen Bull. A large brass bull stood in the centre of the square. It was completely hollow inside and had a door on one side just large enough for a man to enter if he was doubled up. Ptolemy was hauled screaming towards the bull and was thrust inside. Under the bull a large pile of faggots had been stacked and covered over to keep them dry. Once Ptolemy was locked inside, the faggots were uncovered and set alight. The fire smoldered at first but then the flames slowly grew brighter and the bull started to heat up.

  Once it began to glow a dull red the screams of the unfortunate Ptolemy became louder and louder as he roasted to death. The sickly smell of burnt meat wafted over the packed crowd that had gathered to witness the execution and the jeers faded away into complete silence, broken only by the crackling flames and the horrible screams of the victim. A few vomited or fainted and, by the time that the screams ceased, many had left the agora, unable to take any more. Conversely, the king seemed to take a vindictive pleasure in the man’s suffering.

  Parmenion found Perdiccas’ glee revolting and even began to feel sorry for Ptolemy. He left the square convinced that using the Brazen Bull had been a mistake. The people, and even those who were Perdiccas’ closest friends felt disgusted by the method of execution he had chosen. However, instead of admitting that he had made a mistake, Perdiccas decreed that the bull was to be used for all executions henceforth. It was the reaction of an immature and stupid man.

  The strategos and others tried convince him to rescind the order, but that just made him more stubborn. He came to the conclusion that he needed to prove himself to be a victorious leader in battle, then people would respect him. He cast around for a suitable enemy and, as there had been a few minor border raids into Macedon from Illyria recently, he decided it was time to teach Bardylis a lesson again.

  Parmenion tried to dissuade Perdiccas. Macedon needed more time to build up its army and for wounds to heal, but the king was adamant. So Parmenion decided that he wasn’t prepared to take part in what he regarded as folly and resigned as strategos. It was at this point that Philip arrived back from Thebes.

  Chapter Eight – Towards a Professional Army

  364 to 360 BC

  Perdiccas was overjoyed to see his brother again. He was beginning to feel more and more isolated, especially after Parmenion and Orestes both resigned, and he was certain that Philip would support his plan to invade Illyria. However, he didn’t.

  ‘I urge you to delay, brother. Macedon is surrounded by enemies. Only Thebes and Epirus are our friends. Chalkidike is sowing sedition in Lete and Charakoma in the east of your kingdom in an attempt to get them to join their confederation, and Athens is about to launch another effort to take Amphipolis. Thebes will expect us to help them to drive them off as we are their allies.’

  Philip paused, taking pity on the despondent king. Everything he had said was common knowledge in Thebes but it seemed that much of it was news to Perdiccas. Philip realised that Macedon needed a better network of agents as well as better trained and equipped army. His mother had agents in Thebes, Athens and Thrace, but contact with them had ceased when she had been murdered.

  ‘Now is not the time to start trouble in the north,’ Philip concluded.

  ‘Yes, I can see you’re right,’ Perdiccas said miserably. ‘I should have listened to Parmenion and Orestes.’

  Philip looked at him sharply. ‘Why? What do you mean?’

  ‘They insisted that an attack on Illyria was folly but, instead of heeding them, I got angry and they’ve left my service.’

  Philip sighed. ‘We need them, Perdiccas; especially Parmenion. I suspect that, in time, he’ll prove to be an even better strategos than Epaminondas. Do you know where they’ve gone?’

  ‘No, but Alexander gave Parmenion an estate near Europos. Perhaps they went there? I do know that Parmenion recently married.’

  ‘I had better find out then. If he is there, I’ll try and persuade him to serve me, unless you object?’

  Perdiccas shook his head. ‘What will he serve you as? You’ve just appointed a new leader of your
Companions.’

  ‘That’s the other thing I wanted to speak to you about, brother. What role do you see me playing, now that I’ve returned?’

  Perdiccas hadn’t given it a lot of thought. Philip was seventeen and therefore still an ephebe. He assumed that he would join the military academy and complete his military training. He hadn’t realised that his brother felt that he had been trained more than sufficiently and was now eager to put some of the ideas he had developed into practice. When Perdiccas didn’t reply, he carried on.

  ‘How do you feel about the idea of making me Hegemon of the East? I could base myself at Charakoma. It’s well placed to govern our eastern provinces of Krestonia, Bisaltia and Mygdonia and it’s near enough to Lete to give the city second thoughts about joining the Chalkidikean League. Furthermore from there I can reach the isthmus that the Chalkidikeans would have to cross to enter Macedon fairly quickly.’

  ‘You’d need more than your Companions to garrison it if the loyalty of the local citizens is in doubt.’

  Philip breathed a sigh of relief. He had expected opposition to his idea at being given a third of the kingdom to rule, but Perdiccas had ignored his suggestion of effectively dividing the kingdom between them and concentrated on the detail instead.

  ‘Let me worry about that, brother. I have an idea that will give me enough gold and silver to pay for a small army of professional soldiers, like the Scared Band of Thebes.’

  ‘You don’t mean…’

  Philip laughed. ‘No, not that it’s a bad idea but I think we would find it difficult to find that many monogamous homosexual lovers in Macedon; we like a variety of lovers of both sexes.’