Demetrius glanced towards the trumpeter standing in the bows. But before giving the alarm he listened carefully.
‘Right, my girl. You are a good sentinel. But only one ship is moving, and now they are slowing down. They must have challenged a strange sail, and been satisfied. A trader, I suppose, in a hurry to reach the most spendthrift market in the islands. All the same, to come in after dark is odd. Hallo, there’s a trumpet, but it isn’t the alarm. Salute to envoys, that’s the call. Their business must be very pressing.’
‘I hope they bring good news,’ said Phila nervously.
‘They do, my dear,’ Demetrius answered boisterously. ‘It can’t be anything else, since we have nothing to lose. I can feel my luck turning. I am Demetrius the Saviour God, Athene’s younger brother! A fellow like Lysimachus can’t keep me down for ever.’
The despatch boat neared the flagship. She as low and narrow, built for speed, and now plentifully sprinkled with lamps to show that she came in peace. There was barely time to post a guard of honour on the quay before an envoy climbed over the bow of the flagship. Demetrius started as he recognised an old acquaintance, Aristodemus of Miletus.
In one hand the old man bore a herald’s staff and in the other a square of parchment bordered in purple and gold, the most formal kind of King’s Letter. He dropped both on the deck as he hurried to embrace Demetrius.
‘My lord god, it’s good to see you again after all these years. Do you recall that I had the honour of being your messenger of victory after the conquest of Cyprus. A wonderful feat of arms! Even you have never surpassed it. For some reason your mighty father took against me, and I was never employed again until King Seleucus begged me to enter his service. Your divine father - what a loss to Hellas I Though the manner of his glorious death will be remembered for ever, so perhaps we need not mourn him too deeply. Anyway, for the moment I cannot mourn. I am too delighted to see you again?
On the approach of a stranger the ladies retired to their cabin. Taking Aristodemus by the army Demetrius walked with him to the stern, where they could not be overheard. At this demonstration of intimacy, a divine hand actually laid on his elbow, the envoy gurgled with inarticulate joy. But he soon recovered his fluency of speech.
‘King Seleucus sends me to his friend King Demetrius,’ he began. ‘I bear a letter, a letter patent which you may show to your invincible sailors in proof of the friendship which my master bears you. But of course I must tell you privately what lies behind it. May I begin now, since we are alone together?’
Demetrius made an encouraging noise.
‘As you know, my master is bound to King Ptolemy by ties of eternal gratitude. He does not feel so close to King Lysimachus and King Cassander. They did not march with him to India in the army of the great Alexander.’
‘Neither did you, I believe. Nor did I.’
‘I speak for my master, the conqueror of King Porus. Your father also served the great Alexander, which makes you also one of the family, as it were. But King Lysimachus is an upstart, whose power should be diminished. For this project my master and King Ptolemy seek your alliance. They consider that such a coalition should be confirmed by marriage. Luckily, suitable ladies are at hand. King Seleucus commands me to make a formal offer for the lady Stratonice, your daughter. King Ptolemy has let me know unofficially that if you should offer for his daughter Ptolemais he will not withhold his consent.’
‘This is very sudden,’ said Demetrius, laughing. ‘Let me see, has King Seleucus many other Queens just now?’
‘No Queen at all, which is rather remarkable. But then he is a husband of exceptional fidelity. He married a princess of the Persian royal house, the lady Apama, only to please Alexander. Yet he remained faithful to her even after these marriages with barbarians had gone out of fashion. At present he is a widower. The lady Stratonice would have no rivals,’
‘There is, however, a certain disparity of age. To put it bluntly, King Seleucus is old enough to be her grandfather,’
‘That is so, my lord god. Does it matter? In compensation, she will be a great Queen,’
‘I see. And King Ptolemy? Does he recall that I am already married to the lady Phila, who is at it happens the aunt of the lady Ptolemais?’
‘I am sure he has remembered it. But he has become very Egyptian in his manners, and Egypt has remarkable marriage laws. I can tell you in confidence, my lord god, that the marriage between King Ptolemy and the lady Eurydice, sister to Queen Phila, is going very badly. He has taken a fancy to the lady Berenice, his Queen’s orphaned niece. He would like to provide for his daughter before the divorce, and since her mother has fallen from favour he won’t care that she is a second Queen. In addition he offers Egypt as a comfortable refuge for your dependants, King Pyrrhus and the boy Alexander. I can tell you this without any breach of duty, since King Ptolemy is not my employer.’
‘It all sounds very reasonable. I can give you my answer tomorrow, after I have talked over the war with my captains and the marriage with Queen Phila. Will you call here in the evening, when I can receive you in private audience? Tonight I shall find a lodging for you in the town. I’m sorry, but this floating palace of mine has no guest-rooms.’
Evidently Aristodemus was disappointed at his firm dismissal; but he went without argument.
In the ladies’ cabin Phila and Stratonice sat over their embroidery. A servant stood by with a bucket of sand, in case a lamp should be overset; that was one of the inconveniences of living in a ship. But otherwise they were alone.
Demetrius kissed Phila and gave Stratonice a friendly slap on the bottom as she rose to stand respectfully before her father.
‘I felt our luck turn, and it has turned,’ he said jovially. ‘My visitor was Aristodemus, no less. The old rogue came to offer me the friendship and alliance of King Seleucus for a war against Lysimachus. A lifelong alliance, cemented by marriage. Stratonice, would you like to be Queen of the East, sole Queen of a King who has no other wife? In short, Queen to King Seleucus?’
‘It’s a wonderful match,’ said Phila, ‘but he’s very old, isn’t he? And one day you plan to chase him out of Babylon. Won’t that be a bit awkward, if he is your son-in-law?’
‘We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Marriage doesn’t make such a great difference. For years I have been fighting your brother Cassander. Seleucus is an old man, I admit. But that only gives his Queen more scope, if she takes reasonable care. You aren’t in love with anyone else, are you, Stratonice?’
‘No, Father. I always knew that I must marry someone chosen by my parents. I am willing to marry King Seleucus, if that marriage will be helpful to my family.’
‘A very sensible answer. I hope your mother sees things in the same way, because Aristodemus brought another offer. King Ptolemy is in this alliance, and he suggests that I marry his daughter Ptolemais. I also am willing to go through with this, since the marriage will be helpful to my family. What do you say, Phila?’
‘Politics come first, I suppose. I have never met my niece, but we ought to get on together.’
‘Splendid. That’s settled, then. I’m glad we decided quickly. I can give Aristodemus his answer tomorrow. I detest the man, and the sooner he leaves the better. I deliberately didn’t invite him to dinner tomorrow, though I could see he expected it.’
Next day it was agreed that Demetrius should escort his daughter to Syria. At the wedding the two kings would publish their alliance to the world. But nothing definite was said about the marriage of Ptolemais, for Aristodemus was not the envoy of King Ptolemy.
The little port at the mouth of the Orontes was made up of public buildings only. But the public buildings were very fine, and all in the latest style. King Antigonus had begun to build a port for his new capital of Antigoneia; after Ipsus King Seleucus kept on the same architect to complete the port of his new city at neighbouring Antioch. Save for dock-labourers, soldiers and customs officials, everyone lived in the new city upstream.
The port was elaborately decorated, with awnings spread over the streets and a tall throne on a dais by the quay. Here sat King Seleucus, surrounded by a splendid household, to await the arrival of his bride and her father.
The approaching fleet was a stirring sight. First came the floating palace, the great thirteener. Scarlet awnings had been spread above her deck. Her rail was lined with guardsmen in gilded armour. The blades of her long oars had been dyed scarlet. Even her multitude of rowers were clothed in scarlet jackets. On the poop stood King Demetrius wearing his armour of parade. Behind him a tent of scarlet cloth hid the ladies from the eyes of the vulgar.
In the wake of the flagship followed the main fleet, 250 ships of the line marshalled in five columns; far out on the horizon lay a dense mass of transports, carrying the women and children, the horses, and all the baggage of the floating kingdom. Last of all a squadron of fifty warships made up the rear-guard. The oldest Phoenician in the watching crowd had never seen such a power on the sea.
The great flagship handled as sweetly as any fiver. She came to rest with her bow so close to the quay that a gangway could bridge the gap. Demetrius stepped ashore, followed by the bride and her mother. Over them servants bore a canopy of scarlet linen; but not a guardsman followed. Once again Demetrius had astonished the world. Such trust was a novelty when king met king.
King Seleucus was a wizened little man, quite bald under his diadem. The sun had burned his skin so black that he did not look like a Macedonian. In contrast his son Antiochus, standing below the throne, had the fair hair and grey eyes of a Hellene, though he had inherited them from his Persian mother. But when the old king hastened to embrace Demetrius he moved like a warrior in the prime of life.
He was transported with joy, so that words gushed out of him.
‘I sent an envoy to propose an alliance, thinking that for months we would bargain and haggle. Instead, you land unguarded in my town as though we had been friends since childhood. King Demetrius, you are a brave man, and my friend. In diplomacy you advance as swiftly as on the battlefield. An old man finds it hard to keep pace with you,’
‘I’m not one for half-measures, King Seleucus. If I did not trust you I would not have sailed for Syria. Since I trust you there is no need for a bodyguard.’
‘That’s good. It’s more than good, it’s true. Tonight you will dine with me. The bride can get to know her bridegroom. I’m not young, but I’m not a cripple either. I have ridden from Pella to India, and now I’m on my way back. Only a strong man can do that.’
‘Indeed, it proved too much for the mighty Alexander. He got no farther than Babylon on his return journey. But if you intend to rule from India to Macedonia what will be the boundaries of my realm?’
’Oh, the islands, Egypt, Sicily, perhaps mainland Hellas. We can go into the details later. There will be enough for both of us. Your navy and my elephants make a power that no one can resist.’
’Egypt? I thought King Ptolemy was your friend and benefactor?’
‘So did I. But lately he has been acting strangely. It looks as though he plans to throw me over and make an alliance with Lysimachus. He sent two of his daughters to the upstart, one as a bride for Lysimachus himself, the other for his son. Last year it was generally agreed that the rest of us should combine to squeeze out Lysimachus. It was because Ptolemy seemed to be changing sides that I decided to bring you in.’
’That’s candid, anyway. I suppose if Ptolemy hadn’t deserted I would have gone the same way as Lysimachus?’
‘Naturally. But Ptolemy has deserted, which alters the situation. Your aims and mine are the same, my dear Demetrius. They are the aims of your father - a sad loss to Hellas and Macedonia. But he had lived long and prosperously. Soon Nature would have taken him. A good death, on foot in the front rank. May I die as he did. I have risked it often enough. Now what each of us wants, my dear colleague, is that the kingdoms should be fewer and larger; until only one kingdom remains, embracing all the conquests of Alexander. It will be a good thing for the world, too, if we can bring it about.’
‘One kingdom - not two? Then sooner or later you and I must fight?’
‘Precisely. Sooner or later - not now. First we eliminate the second-raters. That means Lysimachus; and perhaps Cassander, the murderer of Alexander’s baby son. And of course What’s-his-name, Cassander’s brother, the fellow who now holds Cilicia. Perhaps Ptolemy is not really up to it. He lacks ambition; he is content to die Pharaoh of Egypt. So you see, my dear Demetrius, that leaves only you and me. First we squash these petty kings. Only when that has been done do we find out which of us is the better man.’
‘My daughter will live an eventful life. But I accept your view. We are allies now, whatever may come later. By the way, I may have started your war before you are ready for it. On the way here I raided some coastal cities to pay my men. As we passed Cilicia I thought of the treasure stored in Kuinda. It was Alexander’s treasure once, the plunder of Persepolis. It was being moved to Macedonia when he died, and my father seized it as it passed through his territory. Pleistarchus hadn’t bothered to move it, and my men took twelve thousand talents. Pleistarchus was very cross, and went off to Macedonia to complain to his mighty brother. Do you mind?’
‘That is of no consequence. Pleistarchus must go, and it may as well be now as later. But Lysimachus is our real enemy.’
For many days the two kings feasted together, in the port or on the flagship. Neither bothered to bring a bodyguard, so firm was their mutual trust. Stratonice made no complaint to her parents, though she did not seem eager for marriage. The wedding passed off as arranged.
12. HELLAS AGAIN
The picket in the forward redoubt was in excellent order; every man clean, wearing full equipment, beard and hair short; their quarters were tidy; the men used the designated latrine and no other place. Of course this was not a surprise visit. It was known that every day the commander inspected the forward positions at about the same time. But if the redoubt was clean at midday the rubbish of the evening had been removed before it could breed disease. Demetrius complimented the young officer on the condition of his post, and opened his tablets to note his name.
At the head of the smooth wax a conscientious clerk had written in the date. With a shock of sardonic surprise Demetrius saw that today was the eleventh anniversary of his first arrival in Attica. He glanced over the dusty waste in front of the redoubt. The city of Athens looked much as it had then, though a bit more tumbledown and seedy. The gates were closed, as they had been eleven years ago.
He turned to Stratocles, riding half a length behind him. ‘Do you know, it’s eleven years to the day since I first brought my ships into Piraeus? And here we are back where we started. I wonder how much longer your fellow-citizens will starve before they give in?’
Stratocles had become an old man. He sat hunched on a quiet mule, an easier ride over the siege-works than the best-mannered horse. But his political opinions had lost none of their fire.
‘Those oligarchs are not my fellow-citizens,’ he said fiercely. ‘The sovereign people of Athens are here in Piraeus, kept out of their own city by wealthy rebels. As soon as we get in, Lachares and his crew shall drink hemlock. If only you would order an assault, Saviour God, we would get in tomorrow. After a year of blockade the rebels must be faint from hunger.’
‘There will be no assault,’ snapped Demetrius. ‘I want to reign over Athens, not over a heap of ruins; if my men took the city by assault they would sack it to the last cellar. Secondly, if I were to order an assault my men might not follow me. They are decent mercenaries, as good as you will find for hire anywhere. On the battlefield they will fight other mercenaries, until one side draws ahead and the other side surrenders. But they don’t like fighting amateurs, who take these things too seriously. Those Athenians will not expect quarter; they will resist to the end, and probably kill a good many attackers. My men wouldn’t enjoy that.’
‘Besides,’ he added after a
pause, ‘even Athenians eat, don’t they? Those fellows must be starving. They’ll surrender soon.’
‘Athenians must eat, though they can be stubborn in defence of the home of the Maiden,’ said Stratocles with pride in his voice. ‘But why those scoundrels should hang on when they must be half-dead with hunger is more than I can say,’ he added in a tone of exasperation. ‘They can’t all be oligarchs, there are too many of them. What is it that persuades a free man to fight for a government which denies him the vote? All my life I have been a democrat, I can’t imagine an argument against democracy. They are fighting against their own liberty - and they must know that they are on the weaker side, now that Cassander is dead. They can’t still hope for a Macedonian army to come down and save them.’
‘They must hate you very bitterly, my dear Stratocles. They will die of hunger rather than submit to your rule. When you get in, and that must be soon, deal gently with them. I suppose you will have to kill the leaders, but don’t persecute the small fry.’
‘It is me they hate, or you, Saviour God? I have never persecuted anyone, except oligarchs who plot to destroy the freedom of their fellow-citizens.’
‘Yes, but you alone decide who is a wicked oligarch, deserving of death. Perhaps they don’t like one man to hold so much power. All the same, I envy your certainty. It must be wonderful to believe in anything as you believe in democracy. Long ago I believed in it a little myself. Or perhaps eleven years isn’t so long ago.’
‘Saviour God, we may think what we like of one another, but we ought not to quarrel in public. During the Four Years’ War against Cassander you said something of the same kind to me. A year ago my loyal democrats let you into Piraeus. It’s time you repaid them by letting me into Athens. If your men think it too dangerous, the Athenian exiles will lead the assault. Will you fail in this siege? Remember your surname.’
‘I am Poliorcetes, Besieger of Cities - not Sacker of Cities. I am now besieging a city, which I hope to capture undamaged.’
Elephants and Castles Page 20