CHAPTER 121
Moira and I walked into Syracuse with the children after the morning chores were completed. I took them to my mother’s apartment. Arathia greeted us at the door and was so overcome with joy she began to cry. I left Moira, Donato, and Rosa with my mother. I told her to sing them a song or two while I ran a few errands in the city.
On a hunch, I went straight to Agathe’s apartment. From a distance I saw Rullo and Gelo, fighting in the yard with wooden swords and laughing.
“Timon!” shouted Rullo. “What are you doing here?”
“I’ve come back here to live. I told you that. What are you doing here?”
“I’m with Troglius.” He grinned. “The Fifth disbanded for the winter. He suggested coming here before going back to Rome.”
“Why was that?”
Rullo rolled his eyes. “Eurydice. Why else? Take a look for yourself.”
I followed his eyes. Troglius and Eurydice were walking our way, back from a trip to the market. Troglius carried a basket full of vegetables and fruit. He dropped the basket and nearly crushed me in his arms, blubbering over and over, “Timon, Timon, you’ll never believe it!”
Just as I had, Troglius and Rullo had been given a portion of the spoils, and then were given the winter off to return to their homes. Troglius had only thing on his mind. He went straight to Eurydice and proposed. One of the most beautiful women I had ever met and one of the ugliest men I had ever seen were to be wed. Troglius had a small farm outside Rome. After the marriage, they would return to his farm with Gelo. Rullo would go with them. If ever there was a fairy tale ending, to me, this was it.
After Troglius and Eurydice had gone into the apartment with Gelo and their basket of produce, I turned to Rullo. “I’ve noticed you’re not scratching yourself. I take it you got rid of the lice.”
He shook his head in embarrassment. “I tried everything—washing, picking them out, simply not itching. Nothing worked.” Behind us Agathe came out of the tenement building with a load of laundry. “When I got here, Agathe wouldn’t let me in the house with them.”
Agathe overheard him. “Had he been Zeus himself I wouldn’t have let him in. I told him not to come back until he’d shaved his crotch.”
Rullo looked at the ground.
“Then I gave him a little mixture of olive oil statured with rosemary, garlic, and lavender.”
Rullo lifted his head. “I put that on every day for a week and they were gone.”
“And he didn’t even say thank you,” snapped Agathe, turning away to hang up the clothing.
“Thank you, Agathe,” called out Rullo. He grinned at me sheepishly, then whispered, “She sure is an old hag, but boy, did she save me.” Returning to his normal voice, he added, “No more prostitutes for me, that’s for sure.”
“See that, Rullo? You’re getting smarter every day.”
A few feet away, Agathe tossed a tunic over the clothes line and muttered, “But not fast enough for me.”
On my way off the island, I passed the tower where I had spent so much time with Archimedes. Despite my eagerness to see how Moira and my mother were getting along, I entered the tower and climbed the stairs. When I reached the third floor landing, Plato the cat confronted me coming down from above. I kneeled and held out my hand, much as I had the first time we met thirteen years earlier. Plato hesitated, in the usual cautious way of a cat, then crept down the last three stairs, staring at me with eyes as wide as saucers.
He was an old cat now, a little thin, with a few open patches in his coat, showing scabbed over flea bites. I reached out to pet him. He ducked his head, but I got a few fingers behind his ear and scratched him the way I had so long ago. Plato drew a little closer, looking up at me like he might actually remember me.
Plato followed me to the top floor of the tower. I didn’t stay long. I peered out the workshop’s three windows, remembering how Archimedes had ignored me for weeks before actually saying something to me. I used the spyglass to scan the ocean to the east, hoping to see a ship appear mast first over the horizon, but none came into view.
I petted Plato a few more times, said good-bye, then left the tower to return to the two women who meant everything to me.
That evening I stayed at the farm. Just before sunset, I went to the outbuilding where I had hidden Archimedes’ drawings. My intention had been to burn them, but I couldn’t help thinking that Ithius was right. No matter how powerful the knowledge, it must be shared, and humankind must, somehow, learn to live by the lessons it teaches. What would I do with the drawings? I wasn’t sure, but I decided not to burn them. I still have them to this day, mementos from the time I served as Archimedes’ eyes.
EPILOGUE
The War with Hannibal marked the beginning of Rome’s domination of the western world. Already a republic for three hundred years at the time Scipio defeated Hannibal, Rome would command and direct world civilization for the rest of my lifetime (I near my seventieth year as I write these words) and likely for another five hundred years after that.
Curiously, Scipio did not include the surrender of Hannibal in the terms of Rome’s treaty with Carthage. Hannibal stayed in Carthage after the war and was elected to one of the two sufete positions the following year. He would remain a public figure in Carthage for six more years, implementing a wide array of civic reforms and proving himself to be a capable bureaucrat
Seven years after the Battle of Zama, Hannibal’s strongest critics in Rome learned that King Antiochus of Syria was planning to hire Hannibal to lead an invasion of Italy. Rome sent a delegation to Carthage to look into the matter. The Council of Elders met with the delegation in the afternoon. Hannibal took part in the discussion and even had dinner with the Roman emissaries. But he didn’t trust them. Fearing they intended to arrest him, Hannibal left Carthage by horse in the middle of the night. He rode to Hadrumetum and caught a ship for Tyre, headed to the court of Antiochus. In the years to come, he would, in some limited capacity, engage in war against Rome again, this time for the Syrian king.
Hannibal would live for twenty years after Zama, the last thirteen in Asia, too often running from Roman bounty hunters. His final years were spent in Bithynia, where he would serve as a naval commander for King Prusias. At the age of sixty-four, still in Bithynia, Hannibal took poison to avoid murder by a Roman assassin.
Publius Cornelius Scipio became Scipio Africanus after Zama. He was the most acclaimed man in Rome for several years, but his popularity, progressive politics, and fondness for Greek learning worked against him in the Roman Senate. He would serve as consul only one more time. Cato, his quaestor in Sicily, became his most outspoken adversary, culminating in a charge of misappropriated funds against Scipio and his brother Lucius. The acrimony and bitter insults led to Scipio’s leaving the Senate. With failing health, he retired to his farm and died the same year as Hannibal, in a self-imposed exile at the age of fifty-three.
There is a story about Hannibal and Scipio meeting by chance ten years after the battle of Zama. Hannibal was acting as an advisor to King Antiochus when Scipio was sent to Syria as a Roman emissary, in an effort to avoid a war. At some point after the negotiations had failed, Scipio and Hannibal had some time alone to talk. Scipio asked Hannibal who he thought was the greatest general. Hannibal didn’t hesitate and said Alexander, King of Macedon. He had used a small army to conquer all of Asia and Egypt. Scipio acknowledged this answer, and then asked who would be second. Hannibal replied Pyrrhus, King of Epirus. He was the first to teach the method of encamping and choosing ground. Again Scipio acknowledged Hannibal’s choice, then asked who might be third, to which Hannibal replied himself. Scipio, somewhat unsettled by this answer, then asked—what if I had not defeated you at Zama? Who would then be number one? Hannibal smiled, and again said himself. This was in effect, though somewhat backhanded, a compliment to Scipio. Scipio had defeated the man, who short of that one defeat, would have been the greatest general in history.
I should add that my friend Ma
sinissa survived his heartbreak. He is now nearly eighty years old. He rules all of Numidia and is considered one of the greatest African kings of our era. He has had five wives and, last I spoke with him, fifty children. And I did return to Africa ten years after the war to map his kingdom.
To Archimedes, the inspiration for this narrative, go my final words. I went to his tomb many years after the end of the war. Marcellus had the tomb built shortly after the fall of Syracuse. It was carved into the side of the limestone cliffs below Fort Euryalus. I had been there when the scientist’s body was interred and had been impressed by the workmanship of the tomb and its meaning to Marcellus.
Even though I knew where the tomb was, I had trouble locating it. Twenty years had passed since Archimedes’ death, and no one had bothered to take care of his tomb. It was so overgrown with weeds and brush that only with a very determined effort did I finally find it. As Archimedes had requested, a sphere inscribed in a cylinder was carved into the limestone above his name. I shed a tear remembering this famous man whom his fellow Syracusans, it seemed, had forgotten.
Much like his memory, Archimedes’ work with conic sections and infinitesimal summation did not survive in the years after his death. Greek science continued to be the foundation of all science afterward, but the most sophisticated part of that science—the material that Archimedes, Colon, Apollonius, and Diocles collaborated on—did not advance and gradually disappeared altogether. Perhaps in another thousand years, someone will make the same breakthroughs that Archimedes and his colleagues had and will creep a few steps closer to Pythagoras’ dream to unite the form and the figure. For now, however, any worry that mathematics or geometry will spawn some uniquely powerful weapon of mass destruction is hard to imagine. With that hopeful thought, I put down my pen and conclude this account of my experiences during the war with Hannibal.
LIST OF CHARACTERS
Abrax- Greek surgeon
Adeon- house slave in Timon’s home in Croton
Aemilus Paullus- senator who died at Cannae
Ajax- Sempronia’s pet parrot
Arathia Arathenus- Timon’s mother
Aristomachus- Carthaginian agent in Croton
Ava- slave given to Arathia by Hannibal
Balius- Timon’s horse
Caelius- King of the Crooks
Carthalo- Carthaginian cavalry officer
Chthonia- Masinissa’s horse
Dora- Sempronii slave
Edeco- Claudii slave
Euroclydon- Marcus’ horse
Fulvia- Sempronia’s mother
Gaia- one of Sophonisba’s slaves
Gaius Cornelius Nero- Roman Consul
Gaius Laelius- Publius Scipio’s naval commander and lifelong friend
Gala- King of the Numidian tribe the Maesulii, Masinissa’s father
Hanno- leader of Carthage’s peace party
Hanno Barca- Hannibal’s second youngest brother and a cavalry captain
Hannibal Barca- Carthaginian field marshal
Hasdrubal Barca- Hannibal’s oldest brother
Hasdrubal Gisgo- father of Sophonisba
Hektor- military cook on island of Ortygia in Sicily
Hiero- King Hiero II of Syracuse
Hieronymus- King Hiero’s grandson
Illi- one of Sophonisba’s slaves
Ithius- Claudii slave
Julia- Laelia’s daughter
Lacumazes- Masinissa’s younger cousin
Laelia- Claudii slave
Lucretia- house slave in Timon’s home in Croton
Mago Barca- Hannibal’s youngest brother
Maharbal- Carthaginian cavalry officer
Marcius Porcius Cato- quaestor for Publius Scipio
Marcus Aemilius Lepidas- Roman senator
Marcus Atilius Regulus- Roman general during the first Punic War
Marcus Claudius- Marcellus’ son
Marcus Claudius Marcellus- Roman general and consul
Marcus Ralla- tribune for Publius Scipio
Masinissa- King of the Numidian tribe the Maesulii
Massiva- Masinissa’s youngest cousin
Mazaetullus- Masinissa’s renegade relative
Meda- Claudii slave
Menna- one of Sophonisba’s handmaidens
Moira- Sicilian girl, love interest of Timon’s in Syracuse
Nycea- one of Sophonisba’s slaves
Oezalces- Masinissa’s uncle
Paculla Annia- priestess from Capua
Philip of Macedon- King of Macedonia
Pleminius- captain of Roman garrison in Locri
Pomponius- praetor of Lilybaeum, head of inquiry team
Portia- Marcellus’ wife
Publius Cornelius Scipio- young Roman general and consul
Publius Licinius Crassus Dives- pontifex maximus
Quintus Ennius- Roman playwright and poet
Quintus Fabius Maximus- elder Roman senator
Rullo- Laelia’s son
Sempronia- Marcus’ bride-to-be
Sophonisba Gisgo- Hasdrubal Gisgo’s daughter
Syphax- King of the Numidian tribe the Masaesyli
Tiberius Sempronius Longus- Roman senator, father of Sempronia
Timon Leonidas- the Greek narrator
Troglius- Timon’s friend and tent mate
Tychaeus- Syphax’s cousin and cavalry commander
Vangue- Hasdrubal Gisgo’s lead slave
Zanthia- Sophonisba’s handmaiden
GLOSSARY
as (pl. asses)- bronze Roman coin, four quadrans make one as
auguraculum- tent in Roman military camp used by augurs
baldric- belt worn over the shoulder to carry a sword
bastinado- gaunlet-sytle military punishment
buckler- shield
cella- main room in a Roman temple
chiton- dress worn by Greek women
comitium- sunken amphitheater in front of the Curia
cuirass- breastplate of metal or formed leather
Curia- Roman Senate House
curule chair- seat for consuls in Roman Senate
decurion- captain of a turma of cavalry
denarius (pl. denarii)- silver Roman coin
equites- second order of nobility in Rome
flamen (pl. flamines)- religious orderly
garron- small horse ridden by Numidian cavalry
gladius (pl. gladii)- double-bladed, short sword of Spanish origin
greave- a bronze or leather shin guard
haruspex- priest trained to read entrails or actions of birds
hastatus (pl. hastati)- soldier in the first row of a Roman battle formation
himation- heavy woolen cloak
howdah- leather and wood tower worn by an elephant or camel
ides- fifteenth day of the month
imagines- wax masks cast from a Roman family’s ancestors
imperium- authority to rule
intervallum- space between ramparts and tents in a Roman camp
lictor- bodyguard for Roman consul
mahout- trainer and rider of elephant
mola- religious sacrament made from salt and flour by the Vestal Virgins
mulsum- honey-sweeten wine
nones- the ninth of the month
palla- shawl for Roman women
peristyle- garden in Roman home
pilum (pl. pila)- a spear with wooden handle and extended iron tip
pontifex maximus- highest position in Roman religious hierarchy
poulterer- man who takes care of haruspex’s chickens
praetor- governor of Roman province
princeps senatus- president of Roman senate
princeps (pl. principes)- soldier in second row of a Roman battle formation
pugio- small dagger carried by Roman velites
quadrans- smallest denomination of Roman coinage, four equal one as
quaestor- military accountant, quartermaster
quinquereme- a warship with five tier
s of oars
scutum (pl. scuta)- semi-cylindrical Roman shield
stola- Roman woman’s dress
sufet- one of the two leaders of the Carthaginian Council of Elders
toga praetexta- toga worn by Roman consul
triarius (pl. triarii)- soldier in third row of a Roman battle formation
triclinium- the Roman dining room
trireme- a warship with three tiers of oars
turma- squadron of thirty equestrians
velites- light infantry in Roman legion
via principalis- main street in Roman military camp
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I could not have written this book without the love and support of my wife Judith. My thanks to her is always and forever.
Thanks is also extended to the contingent of readers who helped me with this novel: Alice, Jim, Mary, Fast Eddie, Judith, Tim, Chris, and Tyler.
Special thanks goes to Nathan Flis and his wife Anafor permission to use the image on the cover of this book, Cornelis Huyberts’ etching of Cornelis Cort’s engraving, Battle with the Elephants, based on Raphael’s tapestry of the Battle of Zama, commissioned by Pope Leo X in 1567.
Although the research for this book occurred over a period of thirty years and included the reading of many hundred books and articles, the historical basis of this book came primarily from the work of two writers, the Greek Polybius (200-118 B.C.) and the Roman Livy (59 B.C.-17 A.D.).
Polybius’ The Rise of the Roman Empire contains the only contemporary history of the Second Punic War. Born two years after the end of the war, Polybius toured the battlefields, traced Hannibal’s route through the Alps, and interviewed men who took part in the war. His book is judged to be one of the masterpieces of classical literature. Written one hundred and fifty years before the birth of Christ, less than half of the original text remains.
Livy’s The War with Hannibal is another masterpiece. Because Livy had access to all of Polybius’ writing, many of the missing parts of Polybius’ work are rewritten in Livy’s, though with a Roman slant. These two authors deserve my most profound acknowledgment. Without their work, the details of this story would not be known at all.
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