Elephants and Castles

by Alfred Duggan

  By this time Demetrius was more comfortable. He had moved into a large office in the town of Piraeus, almost within arrow-shot of the citadel of Munychia. Furniture had been brought from the flagship and the servants had found wine and cups in the harbour taverns. They might negotiate reclining on comfortable couches, beside tables properly appointed.

  That the leaders on both sides happened to be named Demetrius made for a slight awkwardness. But after the first exchanges everyone called the envoy from Athens ‘the Phalerian’; which in itself was a slight gain, as admitting that the son of Antigonus was the more eminent of the two.

  Demetrius warmed to his namesake. The Phalerian was a man of action, the kind of man a Macedonian bred in the camp might talk to in his own language. Besides, the Phalerian could explain to him the complications of Athenian politics.

  ‘All my life I have served Athens,’ the politician began. ‘In this iron world we are not strong enough to stand alone, so I put the city under the protection of the strongest army in Hellas. Cassander was content with a garrison in Munychia, so we controlled our own Acropolis and enjoyed as much freedom as the weak can expect in a world run by the strong. I do not regret anything I have done,’

  ‘But situations change,’ he went on. ‘Your army is now the stronger, so logically I ought to become your ally. That is what I would like to do, and what I shall advise the Athenians to do. Unfortunately there is also this problem of the franchise - I need not go into details, people will be glad to explain them to you at any time. Briefly, most of my supporters are sentimentally attached to Cassander as I have never been, and most of those who welcome your protection are also my opponents who wish to tear me limb from limb. So I can’t personally bring the city over to you,’

  ‘I’m sorry to hear it,’ said Demetrius politely. ‘In Asia we heard that Athens prospered under your rule. All these factions in one city are quite novel to me. But if Athens will come over to me, and you do nothing to hinder it, I am to some extent in your debt. Is there anything you ask of me?’

  ‘You can help me greatly,’ the Phalerian answered. ‘Aristodemus understands the situation and knows what I need. He will tell you. For the present I merely say that the gates of Athens are open to you. Please keep your army outside the city, for fear of plunder. You yourself, with a suitable bodyguard, will be welcome at any time, though I must warn you that there may be disturbances as you enter. But Aristodemus will explain the state of affairs impartially, which you cannot expect from me.’

  This is a gentleman, Demetrius thought to himself. He has lost power in his city but he wants to help his fellow-citizens, not to execute his enemies; to a foreigner he won’t even speak evil of them,

  ‘For many years I have hoped to see the glories of Athens,’ he said. ‘But I should do wrong to indulge my own pleasure while enemies remain in arms at Munychia. Until Attica is at peace I shall remain outside the walls. For the present, I have matters to discuss with Aristodemus. Perhaps you would like to look at my soldiers and my ships; they are said to be pretty good. This evening Aristodemus will take you back to Athens.’

  When he was alone with his political expert, pacing a deserted corner of the quay, he came straight to the point. ‘Tell me what is happening in Athens. Why do they want to kill the Phalerian, who has ruled them well for many years?’

  After drawing a deep breath Aristodemus launched into the lecture he had been preparing in his mind since he got back to camp.

  ‘The Phalerian rules them well, in a sense. That is to say, he increased their wealth and prosperity, and kept them safe from their enemies. But at the same time he drove out many Athenians from their Assembly. In the great days of old, when Pericles ruled them, every Athenian had a vote. The Phalerian introduced a property qualification, so that the poor are ruled by the wealthy. If the poor get the vote again the first use they will make of it is to sentence the Phalerian to death.’

  ‘And which is the better, oligarchy or democracy? When I have entered the city it will be for me to say who may vote and who may not. I want a genuine answer. Remember, I have never seen anything of importance settled by the vote of an Assembly.’

  ‘The general opinion is that every citizen should have a vote. That is what any wise man would ordain if he were founding a city where none had stood before. But there may be special reasons why the rich should govern the poor. In Athens there are special reasons. There is a great deal to be said for the constitution devised by the Phalerian.’

  ‘I’m glad to hear it. He seems an honest man. What are the special reasons?’

  ‘Athens was the most powerful city in Hellas, until old King Philip appeared with his gold and his great army. Then Alexander enlarged the world, and made a great deal of money as he did it. Nowadays money matters more than ever, for armies and especially ships have grown more costly. For example, your flagship is a sevener; while Pericles knew nothing bigger than a three-er. But Athens is no richer than she was two hundred years ago. For lack of money the city cannot compete with the generals. But the poorer Athenians, who pay no taxes, will not admit that their city is now weak. If they get the vote they will raise a great army and a great navy, and tax the rich until there is nothing left. The Phalerian was supported by those with something to lose, those with a stake in the country. But they were also the friends of Cassander, and therefore the Phalerian must go and the poor will be enfranchised.’

  ‘I shall save the Phalerian. Of course he must endure exile, but his life will be spared. As for your talk of a stake in the country, do you think only of property? If his city is defeated every citizen suffers, and every citizen bears arms in the levy. My opinion, as an outsider, is that every citizen ought to have the vote.’

  ‘I’m glad to know it, sir. It will be easy to carry out your wishes. Which party do you favour, the moderates or the extreme democrats?’

  ‘You will have to explain some more. I didn’t expect there would be factions in the city. There are no factions in my army.’

  ‘They may arise, even in your army. Let us hope they do not. In Athens there are at present three parties, and I have been in touch with all of them. The oligarchs follow the Phalerian; but he’s out anyway, and we need not bother with them. Then there is a middle party, men of property who hope to lead their poorer neighbours and unite all classes; their leader is that Habron you have already met. Finally there is a group of extreme democrats who hope to lead the poor to the pillage of the rich. As yet they have no leader. They will follow the most plausible speaker in the Assembly, the man who gets the loudest cheers.’

  ‘So I must choose between the last two, and evidently you favour the moderates. But my father sent me here to bring freedom to the cities of Hellas, and I may as well begin honestly. I shall let the Athenians choose their own government, and I shall make a treaty with the leader they follow. By the way, there’s another thing that puzzles me. Has no philosopher ever suggested that a city should be governed by all its inhabitants, women and resident foreigners, even slaves, besides the citizens? They all have an interest in the prosperity of their country. Resident foreigners fight in the levy, and when a city is sacked women suffer even more than men.’

  ‘That’s a most extraordinary idea, Demetrius. No philosopher has even put forward such a suggestion. Foreigners, perhaps, if they have really taken root - It might be made easier for them to acquire citizenship. But can you imagine a woman speaking in the Assembly, perhaps to contradict her husband or her father? Besides, if women were to mingle in crowds they might get ideas above their station, perhaps meet men whom they preferred to their husbands. There would be widespread promiscuity. About the slaves you must be joking. They would vote themselves free, and then where would we be?’

  ‘Cooking our own mutton, I suppose. I’ve done it on campaign, you know. It’s not so horrible as most people suppose. But you are right, of course, about the slaves. I was joking. I just wanted to hear your answer. It has always seemed to me odd that a man should
spend the day prating about Liberty in some public place, and when he gets home stand still on the threshold while half a dozen slaves take off his outdoor clothes and fetch his slippers. I wonder how these Hellenes would get on without slaves?’

  ‘They would sink into savagery. You can’t live the good life without slaves to do the rough work. I admit that from time to time slavery has troubled me, as it must trouble every thinking man.’ Aristodemus frowned, in a pantomime of earnest thought. ‘This is not the world I would have made if I had been Zeus, or Chronos, or whichever god made it. My personal compromise is to buy only men born in slavery, who are used to it. I couldn’t bear to be waited on by a man who had been free until he was captured in war. I admit that isn’t very logical.’

  ‘It isn’t. In fact you have got it the wrong way round. The captive had the choice between death or slavery, and should be content with what he has chosen; while the born slave never had a chance of freedom. But I agree with you that this discussion is frivolous. I shan’t enfranchise the women and slaves of the Athenians. Now about practical matters - take a strong escort, and conduct the Phalerian to Athens. Leave your soldiers outside the city, and yourself go with him to his house. Let him collect what baggage he can carry, and tomorrow take him, with the escort, to the borders of Attica. In that way we shall save his life, which is the utmost any soldier can do for a good man who happens to be on the side of the enemy.’

  Demetrius of Phaleron got away safely to oligarchic Thebes. Later he emigrated to Egypt, where he helped to found the famous Museum in Alexandria. Never again did he trouble Athens, and he died in his bed; which satisfied everybody.

  Demetrius declared that he would not enter Athens until all Attica was free of the enemy; though every day delegations of Athenians came to Piraeus and Aristodemus bustled busily to and fro, relaying the news of the turbulent city. The invaders now had secure possessions of the Long Walls, and nothing remained to Cassander but the citadel of Munychia.

  Presently transports arrived with the heavy siege engines, and horses for the cavalry. The battering of Munychia began immediately; Telesphorus brought his troops close to the walls in readiness for an assault as soon as a breach should appear. But the engines did little damage. The men were set to digging trenches, a sign of a long siege.

  Nine days after the invasion the Athenians held an Assembly to ratify their change of government. Aristodemus had prepared the ground, in private discussion with politicians of every shade of opinion; and all went off smoothly. The existing voters granted the suffrage to all citizens, even those with no taxable property at all; which may have looked like unselfish patriotism, but they would have been murdered by the democrats if they had reached any other decision. The committee which prepared the agenda for the Assembly was reorganised under sound democratic control. Finally, relieved and surprised to find that no throats had been cut, the Athenians formally called Aristodemus before the Assembly to receive the thanks of the city for his skilful management of affairs. In the evening he came down to Piraeus to tell Demetrius all about it, including every word of the speeches and the figures of the voting. It does not happen to every foreign philosopher to receive the formal thanks of the renowned city of Athens.

  On the next day rumours ran through the camp that the extreme democrats were running wild in the Assembly. The honours they were said to have decreed to their deliverer were so extravagant that they must have been distorted as they were passed down the Long Walls. But it was also said that they had resolved to devote all the resources of the city to the war against Cassander, and that they had not killed any respectable oligarchs; so on the whole the news was good, though queer. Demetrius was informed that an embassy would wait on him later, to convey the official decrees of the Assembly. He awaited it quietly, wondering whether there would prove to be a foundation for these wild rumours.

  Two days later Demetrius was in the advanced trenches, trying to increase the range of a catapult by altering the rigging of its ropes; his favourite hobby was military engineering. As he was coming away Menelaus, one of his younger captains, called to him.

  ‘Sir, will you take a look at the party approaching down the Long Walls? Do you see what I see? Can it be the famous procession of the Mysteries? But surely even the Athenians wouldn’t take a religious procession slap through the middle of a siege? Anyway, this is the wrong time of year for Eleusis.’

  Demetrius climbed on a parapet to look. Sure enough, what seemed like a religious procession was advancing on the works; but there were only twelve men in it, with about the same number of attendants following; so this could not be the whole citizen body of Athens marching out to do whatever they did in secret at Eleusis.

  Yet the twelve, advancing on foot, wore the fringed robes of men on a religious mission, and carried long staves topped with religious emblems. On their heads were veils, kept in place by wreaths of greenstuff. No one carried arms.

  ‘Something to do with the service of the gods, but not the Mysteries,’ Demetrius summed up with a shrug. ‘How typical of politicians to waste time on religion when they ought to be getting on with the war. All the same I don’t want to fight my new allies. This may be something important, at least in their eyes. Let’s get back to headquarters. I shall sit in my official chair and we’ll turn out the guard, so that we can give these venerable men a proper salute as they go by. I expect they want to borrow a ship to take them to some oracle in Asia.’

  By the time Demetrius and his staff reached headquarters the procession was as close on their heels. He was barely seated on his folding chair, wearing a purple cloak and a plumed helmet to make up for the battered cuirass he had not had time to change, when the twelve sacred personages approached him, bowing low to the ground. The guard presented arms; and then the Macedonians stared in frank curiosity, for all that they were supposed to be stiff at attention.

  Athenian trumpets sounded, while the attendants at the back waved little pots of smoking incense. When a spokesman stepped out from the twelve he veiled his head more closely and kept his eyes cast down, so that the proceedings seemed more and more like what went on in a great temple. This spokesman had such a beautiful voice that Demetrius guessed he must be the herald of the Mysteries.

  ‘These are the decrees of the sovereign Assembly of Athens, proclaimed by the voice of sacred envoys who seek the favour of the gods,’ the herald began. ‘First, our deliverers Antigonus and Demetrius his son shall be recognised and worshipped by all Athenians as Saviour Gods; as such their likenesses shall be embroidered on the sacred robe presented annually to Athene in the Parthenon. Second, the images of these gods shall be displayed, riding in chariots, in the market-place of Athens, that the people may pay them due worship. Third, to each of the Saviour Gods shall be consecrated a sacred ship, such as serve Apollo in his shrine at Delos. Fourth, the sacred envoys, after waiting on the god Demetrius, shall proceed to Asia to the god Antigonus to beg from him timber for the construction of warships, for the better prosecution of the holy war against the unjust tyrant Cassander. These are the decrees of the sovereign people of Athens, binding on all who dwell in Attica, whether citizens or others.’

  The soldiers were stunned into silence, and though Demetrius bowed and smirked he could not think of anything to say in reply. One spearman tried to cheer, but at a religious ceremony that seemed profane, and no one else took it up. Silence continued as the envoys bowed and withdrew. Then an officer dismissed the quarterguard and everyone began to chatter.

  Demetrius turned to Menelaus beside him: ‘Well, those rumours from Athens told only half the truth. This is odder than anything I had expected. Does it mean anything? Can it mean anything? Am I a god? On the whole, no. My toe still aches where I banged it against a spade just now, so my body at least has not been made divine.’

  ‘To me you don’t look like a god, sir, but after all I have never seen one - except statues, of course. Why not ask Aristodemus? It’s more in his line.’

  The p
hilosopher appeared both solemn and interested. ‘Most remarkable. I would never have expected to see the inauguration of a divine ruler, and in Athens of all places. Remarkable - but not unprecedented. Among the barbarians such rulers exist, more frequently than you might suppose. For example, from time immemorial the Pharaohs of Egypt have been living gods, and they say Ptolemy has now appropriated the office. Though the sacred rulers of Babylon were high priests rather than themselves divine, yet in Syria some communities follow the Egyptian practice. However, this is the first example I have met with among the Hellenes. Most interesting.’

  ‘It only shows what democrats will do when you give them their heads,’ said Menelaus scornfully. ‘It’s all great nonsense. Do you feel any different, sir, now that the Athenians are worshipping you?’

  ‘Encouraged, perhaps,’ answered Demetrius with a grin. ‘It will please Father, you know. It will help him among the barbarians. But the bit I like best has nothing to do with theology. If they are begging timber from Father they must be in earnest about this war. Athenian sailors! There’s my answer to Ptolemy’s fleet.’

  ‘Not quite the first Hellene man-god,’ Aristodemus continued, ignoring the chatter of mere soldiers. ‘During Alexander’s lifetime he was worshipped, though there again the inspiration came from Egypt. That odd business at the oracle of Ammon - I wasn’t there, but I have spoken with those who were. They say Alexander genuinely believed in his own divinity, and with some reason. On the other hand, divinity didn’t save him from an early death, and his Empire has scarcely survived him. A difficult point.’

  ‘When we have beaten Cassander we shall put the Empire together again,’ said Demetrius cheerfully. ‘That’s why we are here in Hellas. My being a god, and father too, can’t do any harm and maybe help us. It will be fun to see Athens as a god; though I hope they give me solid food to eat, not just incense and the smoke of sacrifice. By the way, Aristodemus, do you believe in any gods at all, or are you an atheist like so many philosophers? Is it better to be a god than to be a man?’