Alexander (Vol. 2) (31 page)

‘An Egyptian?’ asked Alexander in his surprise. ‘But who is he? Have you ever come across him before?’

Hephaestion shook his head. ‘To tell you the truth, no. But he claims to know both of us, to have worked in his day for King Philip, your father, and to have seen us both running and playing in the courtyard at Pella. He looks as though he has travelled a long way to reach us.’

‘And what does he want?’

‘He says he wants to speak to you alone.’

The herald arrived just then: ‘Sire, the commanders are here and are waiting outside.’

‘Show them in,’ ordered Alexander. And then he turned to Hephaestion and said, ‘Have him fed and find him some shelter until there’s a tent ready. Then come back here – I want you to be present for the council.’

Hephaestion set about his orders and immediately afterwards the King’s friends entered the tent – Eumenes, Seleucus, Ptolemy, Perdiccas, Lysimachus and Leonnatus. Philotas was with his father in the Phrygian interior, together with Craterus and the Black. They all kissed Alexander on the cheeks and sat down.

‘You have seen the city,’ began Alexander, ‘and you have seen the terrain – rocky, inhospitable. Even if we were to build assault towers with wood from the forests, we would never manage to drag them into position, and a tunnel is out of the question because it would mean cutting through bare rock with mallets and chisels. Impossible! The only solution is to effect a blockade of Termessus, but without any idea of when the city will fall – it could be days, it could be months . . .’

‘At Halicarnassus we didn’t worry ourselves with such considerations,’ said Perdiccas. ‘We simply took the time required.’

‘Let’s build a mountain of wood against the walls, set fire to it and roast them out,’ said Leonnatus.

Alexander shook his head, ‘Have you seen how far away the woods are? And how many men would we lose sending them to carry wood under the walls without protective covering and without any barrage fire? I will not send my men to their deaths, unless I run the same risks, and you with me. What’s more, time is against us. It is vital we meet up with Parmenion’s troops as soon as possible.’

‘I have an idea,’ said Eumenes. ‘These barbarians are exactly like the Greeks – they are always busy with internecine fighting. The inhabitants of Termessus will certainly have enemies somewhere, and all we need to do is strike an agreement with them. After that we can start off again towards the north.’

‘That’s not a bad idea,’ said Seleucus.

‘Not at all,’ said Ptolemy. ‘Assuming we manage to find them, these enemies.’

‘Will you take care of it?’ Alexander asked his secretary.

Eumenes shrugged his shoulders, ‘Of course, if no one else is going to deal with it.’

‘So we’re all agreed then. In the meantime, however, while we are here we will apply the blockade – no one is to enter and no one is to leave the city. Now you may go and see to your men.’

The companions dispersed to their units and shortly afterwards Hephaestion returned: ‘I see you have already finished. What have you decided?’

‘That we have no time to go into combat with this city. We’re trying to find someone who might do the job for us. Where is our guest?’

‘He’s waiting outside.’

‘Bring him in then.’

Hephaestion went out and returned immediately with a rather elderly man, nearer seventy than fifty years old, his hair and his beard grey, dressed like a native of the mountains.

‘Come,’ Alexander invited him. ‘I know that you have asked to speak to me. Who are you?’

‘My name is Sisines and I come with a message from General Parmenion.’

Alexander looked into his dark, flighty eyes. ‘I have never seen you before. If Parmenion has sent you then you will certainly have a letter bearing his seal.’

‘I have no letter – it would have been too dangerous if I were captured. I have orders to transmit to you in person the things I have been told.’

‘Speak then.’

‘With Parmenion there is a relative of yours, he leads the cavalry.’

‘He is my cousin, Amyntas of Lyncestis. He is an excellent soldier and for this reason I gave him the Thessalian cavalry.’

‘And do you trust him?’

‘When my father was assassinated, he immediately came to my side and since then he has always been loyal.’

‘Are you sure of this?’ the man asked again.

Alexander began to lose his patience. ‘If you have something to tell me, spit it out instead of beating around the bush.’

‘Parmenion has intercepted a Persian messenger who was carrying a letter from the Great King to your cousin.’

‘May I see it?’ asked Alexander, stretching out his hand.

Sisines shook his head with a slight smile. ‘It is a most delicate document that we certainly could not risk losing, if I were captured. General Parmenion, however, has authorized me to transmit orally the content of the letter to you.’

Alexander gestured for him to continue.

‘The Great King’s letter offers your cousin Amyntas of Lyncestis the throne of Macedon and two thousand talents in gold in return for your life.’

The King was speechless. He thought immediately of what Eumolpus of Soloi had said regarding a large sum of money having left the palace at Susa for Anatolia and he thought of the valour and loyalty his cousin had demonstrated up until that moment. He suddenly felt he was being caught up in a web of conspiracies in which valour, strength and courage were worthless, a situation which was a thousand times more suited to his mother’s talents than his own. In any case it was a situation that required an immediate solution.

‘If this proves to be untrue I will have you cut to pieces and thrown to the dogs,’ he said.

Peritas, dozing in a corner, lifted his head and licked his chops, as if suddenly interested in this new twist to the conversation. But Sisines did not seem to be perturbed in the slightest. ‘If I am lying, it will not be difficult for you to establish the fact once you meet up with Par-menion.’

‘But what proof do you have that my cousin intends to accept the money and the Great King’s proposal?’

‘In theory I have no proof. But consider the facts, Sire – would Darius have made such a proposal and risked a sum of money of that size if he had not been sure of the answer? And do you know of any man who can resist indefinitely the attractions of power and riches? If I were in your place, Sire, I would not take any risks. With all that money your cousin could employ a thousand assassins, he could pay off an entire army.’

‘Are you suggesting what my next move should be?’

‘By the gods, no, Sire. I am a faithful servant who has done his duty crossing snow-covered mountains, suffering hunger and cold, risking his life more than once in lands which are still in the hands of the soldiers and the spies of the Great King.’

Alexander did not reply, but he understood that at this point he had no choice, that a decision in any case had to be made. Sisines interpreted the silence in the most logical manner.

‘General Parmenion gave me orders to return as soon as possible with your instructions. And these cannot be written either – I must report to him in person. Indeed, the general honours me with his complete trust.’

Alexander turned his back because he did not want Sisines to read his thoughts in his face. Then, after reflecting on and considering everything, he turned and said, ‘This is my message for General Parmenion:

Repeat it now,’ ordered Alexander.

Sisines looked him straight in the eye and repeated the message verbatim, without any hesitation whatsoever.

‘Fine,’ replied the King, hiding his amazement. ‘Now go and eat and sleep. You will have a bed for the night. When you feel sufficiently rested and ready, you will set off again.’

‘I will ask for a satchel of food and a skin of water and I will leave straight away.’

‘Wait.’

Sisines, who at that moment was bent over, bowing to take his leave, immediately straightened up, ‘At your service, Sire.’

‘How many days did it take you to reach us from the general’s position?’

‘Eleven days on the mule.’

‘Tell Parmenion that I will leave Termessus in five days’ time at the most and that I will join him in Gordium in the same time it took you to come here.’

‘Do you want me to repeat this message as well?’

‘That will not be necessary,’ said Alexander. ‘I thank you for the information you have brought to me and I will tell Eumenes to reward you for your troubles.’

Sisines responded, ‘That will not be necessary, Sire. My reward is to have contributed towards safeguarding your person. I ask no more than this.’ He gave the King a last look which could have meant anything, then he bowed respectfully and left. Alexander sat heavily on a stool and put his face in his hands.

He sat there motionless for a long time – his thoughts returning to the days, back in Pella, when as a child he played with his companions and his cousins at hide-and-seek or with a ball and he felt like shouting or crying.

He had no idea how much time passed before Leptine came to him and put her hand on his shoulder, ‘Bad news, my Lord?’ she asked softly.

‘Yes,’ replied Alexander, without turning.

Leptine put her cheek to his shoulder. ‘I have managed to find some wood for burning and to warm some water. Would you care to take a bath?’

The King nodded and followed the girl into the private section of the tent where a tub full of steaming water awaited him. Leptine undressed him in the lamplight, darkness having fallen some time previously.

W
ITH
A
RISTANDER
’
S HELP
, Eumenes managed to draw up an agreement with a nearby people, the Selghaeans, sworn enemies of the Termessians even though they spoke the same language and worshipped the same deities. He gave them money and had Alexander grant their leader a high-flown title such as ‘Supreme Dynast and Autocrat of Pisidia’. The Selghaeans immediately took up position around the city, ready for the siege.

‘I told you that Termessus would soon be at your mercy,’ Aristander reminded the King, interpreting the situation in his own, highly original manner.

The King made sure of the surrender of some nearby cities along the coast, Side and Aspendos for example, beautiful places built partly in the Greek style with squares, colonnades and temples adorned with statues. He had these cities pay him the taxes they previously paid to the Persians. Finally, before setting off northwards he left a group of officers from the
hetairoi
and a division of assault troops from the shieldsmen together with his barbarian allies under the walls of Termessus.

The Taurus mountains were covered with snow, but the weather was reasonably good, the sky clear and deep blue in colour. Here and there isolated clumps of beech and oak still bore their ochre and reddish leaves, standing out from the blinding whiteness like jewels on a silver tray. As the army advanced the Thracians and the Agrianians, led by Lysimachus, were sent on ahead to occupy the passes and to avoid surprise attacks; in this way the march proceeded without any serious danger cropping up.

Eumenes bought plenty of supplies in the villages so as not to irritate the local population and to ensure the quietest possible passage of the army across the ridges of the great mountain chain.

Alexander rode alone and in silence, ahead of everyone and astride Bucephalas. It was clear to them all he was preoccupied with some problem. He wore a Macedonian hat, with its typically wide brim and over his shoulders was a military
chlamys
of heavy wool. Peritas trotted along almost seeming to run in and out among the hooves of the great stallion. The two animals had established a friendly understanding some time previously and when the dog was not asleep at the foot of Alexander’s bed, he would settle down in the straw near Bucephalas.

After three days of march over the mountains, they came within sight of the interior highlands – a flat, burned plain, swept by a bitter cold wind. Far off in the distance a body of water could be seen shining, clear and dark, surrounded by an extent of blinding whiteness.

‘More snow,’ grumbled Eumenes, who once again was feeling the cold and had definitively abandoned his short military
chiton
for a pair of warmer Phrygian trousers.

‘No . . . it is salt,’ said Aristander, riding alongside him. ‘That is Lake Ascania, saltier than the sea. In the summer much of it evaporates and the layer of salt extends outwards. The locals sell it throughout the valley.’