The Strategos Read online

  If Parmenion had expected to be congratulated on capturing the town, he was doomed to disappointment. Instead he was chastised for deserting the army, as the elderly satrap put it. He was left under no illusion that, had he failed to capture this bridgehead in Egyptian territory, he would have been tried and executed. Iphicrates got angrier and angrier with Pharnabazos, who couldn’t see, or wouldn’t admit, that all the progress he had made so far was due to Parmenion and the Greeks. Instead he wrote to King Artaxerxes claiming all the credit for capturing the port. When the Greeks heard about this, relations between the two parts of the army worsened sharply and there were several fights between groups of Greeks and Persians. Iphicrates feared that the explosive situation could deteriorate into open warfare quite quickly.

  ‘I suggest, Satrap, that I take my men and advance to the west. Tanis is the only city that now stands between us and Nectanebo’s new capital at Sebennytos.’

  ‘Yes, that’s all very well but you don’t seem to realise that Tanis is on the far bank of another river and Sebennytos lies beyond yet another river and at the junction of two more.’

  ‘You have a fleet, Pharnabazos. You can use that to ferry men across them.’

  ‘It’s too risky. If the Egyptian caught us ferrying troops in the confines of a river, they could destroy my ships.’

  ‘The Egyptian fleet, what’s left of it, is holed up at Alexandria, too scared to venture out.’

  ‘That’s just wishful thinking. You can’t be certain of that.’

  ‘So, what’s your plan of action? Sit here and wait for Nectanebo to die?’ he asked sarcastically.

  Pharnabazos’ cheeks reddened. ‘Don’t be impertinent. If you must know I am waiting for reinforcements.’

  ‘I see. What month is it now?’

  ‘Anthesterion. Why?’

  ‘The inundation of the Nile starts in Skirophorion and reaches here in Hekatombaion,’ he said, referring to the months of the Attic Calendar. ‘That means you have four months, five at the very most, before campaigning in the Nile Delta becomes impossible. If you sit here much longer your chances of re-conquering the Delta, let alone the rest of Egypt, will be non-existent.’

  ‘Don’t presume to tell me what to do, Greek.’

  ‘You should know that I have also written to Artaxerxes advising him of the situation. In that letter I said that, unless you take immediate steps to move further into Egypt, I and my men will be returning to Greece.’

  ‘You can’t do that,’ Pharnabazos yelled, now thoroughly alarmed. ‘You are contracted to serve me.’

  ‘Only until Skirophorion this year. That’s only three and a half months away. It will take us about a year to make the journey back to Greece so, if we are not needed here to fight, we might as well make a start now.’

  The two commanders glared at each other for a long time, then Pharnabazos waved his hand in dismissal. Two weeks later, having obtained camels to carry enough supplies to see them across the Sinai Desert, as Pharnabazos had refused to resupply them by sea, they left Pelusium. It took all day for the two ferries to take them back across the river and they camped for the night on the east bank. By dawn the next day they had gone.

  Parmenion wasn’t in the least surprised when he heard later that the Persians bid to reconquer Egypt had failed.

  Chapter Five – The Cuckold King

  371 BC

  Philip, the third son of King Amyntas ran towards his mother’s bedroom. The sentry tried to stop him entering but the boy was too quick for him. He slipped past and opened the door. It was his eleventh birthday and his parents had promised him a surprise. He couldn’t wait to find out what it was and decided to go and see his mother as soon as he woke up in the hope that she would tell him.

  It wasn’t until he was a few feet into the room that he saw that Eurydice wasn’t alone in her bed. The boy came to a halt. At first he thought it was his father, but Amyntas had grey hair and a grey beard. This man had black hair.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ his mother screeched at him. ‘Who let you in, you nosy little bastard.’

  It was hardly the warm welcome he was expecting and it was the first time his mother had ever yelled at him. Many boys his age would have wilted and burst out crying at such a reception, but not Philip. He knew that something was wrong and he stood his ground.

  ‘Who in Hades name have you got in bed with you, mother? It’s not father, that’s for sure.’

  Philip might have only just turned eleven but he was well aware of the facts of life and what men and women got up to in bed, and even what men and boys did together sometimes.

  ‘None of your business. Now get out.’

  Suddenly she saw the nervous sentry hovering at the open door.

  ‘Get him out of here. I’ll have your hide for this, you incompetent fool.’

  The sentry, fearing for his life, grabbed Philip’s exomis and dragged the boy protesting out of the room. As soon as he let go of him, Philip stamped on the man’s foot, breaking a small bone, and ran off to find his brothers.

  Alexander was now twenty one and their middle brother, Perdiccas, was fourteen. They listened to Philip’s tale with increasing anger.

  ‘Did you see who the man was?’

  ‘Yes, it was Ptolemy.’

  ‘Ptolemy of Aleros, the strategos?’

  ‘Yes.’ Philip nodded.

  Alexander was beside himself with fury. He hated Ptolemy with a passion. He knew that he influenced every decision the queen made, which meant every decision his father made, and he had cost Macedon dear. Bardylis, the Illyrian king, had invaded the north again and Ptolemy had failed to drive them out. Even worse, the Chalkidikeans had invaded the territory between Pella and Thrace and it was only with Spartan help that Ptolemy had managed to evict them. This left Macedon beholden to Sparta and it had become almost a vassal state as a result.

  Now it seemed that the incompetent strategos had taken Amyntas’ place in the queen’s bed and was effectively King of Macedon in everything but name. What made it worse was the fact that any further children she had would be Ptolemy’s by blood, but they would be accepted as Amyntas’.

  Without saying anything further, Alexander abruptly left the other two and made for his father’s chambers. Amyntas was now over seventy and becoming increasingly feeble. When his eldest son told him of his wife’s betrayal he wept but he didn’t immediately order the arrest of Ptolemy, as Alexander had expected. In fact he did nothing.

  Alexander was rapidly realizing that his father had little time to live and he began to plan for his assumption of the crown. It was not a foregone conclusion. He remembered that Amyntas had told him that he had been forced to deal with two other contenders, one of whom had actually been elected king, and he had been driven out of Macedon for a time. Eventually he had returned and managed to depose the king and then eliminated them both. Only then had he became secure on his throne.

  It was an opportune moment for Parmenion to reappear and Alexander immediately offered him the position of commander of his Companions. As soon as he had returned to Pella, the other Greek contingents in his epihipparchia had returned home and he was left with a mere hundred or so of his original command.

  Alexander chose another hundred from his friends and the sons of influential nobles and merchants to make his personal band of Companions up to two hundred. His mother had protested that he wasn’t king yet and he wasn’t entitled to a bodyguard; that had led to their first row.

  ‘I might not be king, but Ptolemy isn’t either, though you allow him to act like one. Meanwhile my father is shamed, both by being emasculated as king and having to put up with a harlot for a wife.’

  Eurydice had never been spoken to like that before and slapped her eldest son’s face as hard as she could. He staggered back, clutching his cheek. As she went to hit him again Parmenion stepped forward and grabbed her wrist.

  ‘How dare you, let me go. I’ll have your head for this,’ she shrieked at him.
r />   ‘I have sworn an oath to protect your son, kyria, and that is what I’m doing. Now desist.’

  The queen tried to pull her arm free but Parmenion had a grip like a vice. She looked over at Ptolemy, who was watching the exchange carefully but he didn’t intervene.

  She snorted in anger but stopped struggling. Alexander nodded at Parmenion, who let go of her wrist.

  ‘You will pay for this, Parmenion – and so will you, Alexander.’

  She swept out of the room and for the next month mother and son avoided each other’s company.

  In the late spring a messenger arrived inviting Amyntas to attend a peace conference to end the war between Sparta and Thebes. Amyntas called a meeting to decide who should represent him; declaring that he was too old and unwell to go to Athens himself. Eurydice immediately proposed Ptolemy but she was opposed by Alexander and several nobles. In the end it was decided that Alexander should represent his father and that Ptolemy should accompany him as his adviser. The prince didn’t like it, but it seemed that he had little option.

  Their next disagreement came over the escort to accompany them. Ptolemy had decided that he would take a hundred and fifty cavalrymen chosen by him, but Alexander told him that some of his Companions would suffice for both of them. When Ptolemy said that he would be happier with his own men, the prince told him in no uncertain terms that he wasn’t about to descend on Athens with a small army. He would take a hundred of his Companions and that was an end to the matter.

  Ptolemy still brought along several servants, officers, scribes and ten bodyguards. All told the embassy numbered a hundred and fifty. When they reached Athens they discovered that the Macedonian contingent was the largest by far. Even the two Spartan kings had only brought an entourage of seventy.

  Parmenion thought that Athens was impressive. His first sight of the city was of the Acropolis. The sun glinted off the white temples in the citadel on top of a rocky outcrop looming above the buildings that surrounded it.

  The approach from the east between the conical Mount Lycabettus and the long hills of Mount Hymettus took them past the Lyceum and the Cynosarges, both outside the walls. The latter was a public gymnasium where scores of ephebes were being given lessons in wrestling. Parmenion was amused to note that a crowd of young men, and even a few older ones, seemed to be taking a great interest in the antics of the naked boys. Evidently, what he had heard about Athenian men was true.

  When they arrived at the Diomean Gate they were met by an Athenian officer who escorted them to the house where they would be staying. Parmenion, ten of the Companions, the scribes and skeuphorii were allowed to remain with them but the remainder of the escort was conducted to a field by the River Eridanos where they could camp.

  They had to wait three days before all the delegations had arrived and then, on the fourth day, they were taken to the Theatre of Dionysus, an open air amphitheatre, where the peace negotiations would take place. It was evident quite early on that Alexander and Ptolemy agreed on very little. Eurydice’s policy, and therefore that of Amyntas, had been to support Sparta, their ally against the Chalkidikeans in recent years. However, Alexander could see that the days of Spartan supremacy were numbered. Athens and Thebes were the growing powers in Greece and he was determined to support them against Sparta at the conference.

  Most of the discussions didn’t effect Macedon but, when it came to the claim of Athens to recover its former colony of Amphipolis, Sparta upheld the independence of the city. Alexander decided to support the claim of Athens and spoke eloquently before the assembly. As a native of Amphipolis, Parmenion was anxious for the city to retain its present freedom, but he was torn two ways as he was pledged to Alexander. In the end he said nothing but he was secretly pleased by Ptolemy’s vociferous defence of Amphipolitan independence. However, it made little difference to the decision of the assembly. Alexander was the only person entitled to vote on behalf of Macedon and ultimately the only representative to cast a vote in favour of the status quo was Sparta.

  Ptolemy was furious and refused to speak to Alexander. He and his small entourage rode behind the rest of the embassy on the return journey and they camped and ate separately. When they arrived back at Pella the strategos stormed off to complain to Eurydice but a shock awaited him. Amyntas had died the previous week and Alexander had been elected as king in his place.

  -o0o-

  Parmenion went to see Alexander with some trepidation. He knew that, whilst he was just about acceptable to the Macedonian nobility as the commander of the prince’s Companions, thanks to his reputation, they would never accept him as commander of the King’s Companions. However, Alexander had a high regard for him and he felt confident that the young king would offer him some employment, but both Eurydice and Ptolemy disliked him intensely and they would use their influence against him.

  Ptolemy had retained his appointment as strategos, mainly because Alexander needed to consolidate his position as king and wanted as many friends and as few enemies as possible. Already a cousin, Pausinias, the son of the King of Macedon that Amyntas had deposed and murdered, was raising a mercenary army to invade and challenge Alexander for the throne.

  ‘Come in Parmenion.’ Alexander was only twenty three but he was weary and looked older. ‘As you know, Pausinias is threatening to invade with the help of Bardylis and his Illyrians and an army of Greek mercenaries. I suspect that the latter are being paid by the Chalkidikeans, and possibly also by your home city of Amphipolis. They haven’t forgiven me for supporting the Athenians’ claim to sovereignty over them.’

  He paused and rubbed his hand over his eyes and took a sip of wine before continuing.

  ‘I need to buy off Bardylis so that Pausinias’ bid for the throne fails. Without the Illyrians’ support those Macedonian nobles who think that he should be king instead of me will hesitate to join him. I’m therefore sending an embassy to Bardylis. My brother Philip will lead it and he will be advised by two of my most experienced negotiators; but I need someone I can trust to go with them. I want you to become military tutor to Philip and take Orestes and my former Companions with you. You will now command my brother’s bodyguard, if you agree, but you need to be much more than that. I’m relying on you to make sure that Pausinias loses Illyrian support, whatever the cost. ‘

  ‘I understand, basileus. When do we leave?’

  ‘Tomorrow, before my mother and the wretched Ptolemy get wind of what I’m up to and try to make difficulties for me.’

  Privately he thought that Alexander was worrying unnecessarily, at least as far as Eurydice was concerned. She might not agree with her eldest son, but there was no way that she would want to see him replaced by Pausinias. She would be forced into exile, or even killed, if he managed to seize the throne.

  ‘I’ve decided that the permanent army of Macedon is too weak. I’m therefore proposing to increase the number of King’s Companions, but this time the new Companions will be infantry. There’ll be a chiliarchy of them initially and they will become professional full-time soldiers, the same as the mounted Companions. They will then form the backbone of a better trained citizen militia of hoplites.

  ‘Forgive me for asking, Alexander, but how will you pay for this permanent chiliarchy?’

  ‘I’ve already agreed with Athens to sell them wood for the new fleet that they are building. It’ll come from Macedonian territory recently occupied by Chalkidike and Amphipolis. They are sending an army to help me take back our land, and to capture Amphipolis, of course.’

  He grinned and, for a moment, Parmenion was reminded of the young man that Alexander used to be before the poor situation that Macedon found itself in had sapped his energy. He tried to ignore the internal conflict that raged in his mind. He had to forget about the threat to Amphipolis; after all he was to all intents and purposes now a Macedonian, having served his adopted country for a decade. He pulled himself together, saluted and went to find his new charge – the twelve year old Philip.

  -
o0o-

  If Parmenion had liked Alexander, he admired his younger brother. Philip might have been eighteen months younger than the middle brother, Perdiccas, but he was older and wiser in his thinking by some margin. Whereas Perdiccas still behaved like a little boy, Philip acted like a prince with all the confidence of someone who believed that he had a great future in front of him.

  When Philip, the two advisors and Parmenion walked into the audience chamber of King Bardylis the latter made the mistake of addressing his opening remarks to the advisors. He had, of course, welcomed Philip formally first but he then ignored him. It was a mistake.

  ‘Basileus, you will do me the courtesy of addressing me, not my advisors. They are here only should I wish to consult them about something, not to negotiate directly with you. I am not some cypher or mouthpiece. I am my own man.’

  If the Illyrian king took offence at Philip’s somewhat direct way of expressing himself, he hid it well.

  ‘Prince Philip, please forgive me. However, I’m not sure what you hope to gain from this meeting. I have already committed myself to supporting King Pausanius; there seems little more to be said.’

  ‘Pausanius is not king yet, nor will he ever be. Your strategy is fairly obvious; you hope to weaken Macedon further by fermenting a civil war. I’m not sure what my cousin has promised you, but I am absolutely certain that he is unable to deliver it to you now, nor will he be able to do so in the foreseeable future. I imagine that you your motive in supporting him is to weaken Macedon to secure your southern border. A treaty of friendship and mutual support would do the same thing, and could even be more valuable to you.’

  ‘Perhaps; you do seem to have a good grasp of the realities of political power for one so young.’

  ‘I have good advisors and Parmenion, the captain of my Companions, has an even better grasp of what motivates rulers than I have.’