Elephants and Castles

by Alfred Duggan

  ‘He should not have spoken so to his daughter-in-law about her brothers. It was downright bad manners.’

  ‘Your father then wrote in his own hand to Cassander. He promised to spare his life if both he and Pleistarchus would come unaccompanied to Antigoneia and kneel as suppliants before Antigonus the Great King.

  ‘So of course the war continues. I can only pray to the Mother that all my kindred will live in peace one day. It is very sad. Your father could have an honourable peace, and the undivided Empire, if he would meet my brother half-way. Your father is proud, but he forgets that others also cannot stomach insult. The gods do not always forgive pride.

  ‘I feel very lonely. Cassander my brother, Lysimachus my brother-in-law, Ptolemy my brother-in-law, are all making war on my husband. I hope you will be able to visit me this year or next.

  ‘One final point. They tell me that you have put away Lamia. I am sure you were generous to her, but you should arrange that she draws her income monthly. She can have no experience in handling money, and it would be shameful if your hetaira were reduced to poverty. Good-bye.’

  Demetrius made a note to see about trustees for Lamia’s property. It was a danger he had not foreseen, since he himself never bothered about money. The difficulty would be to find honest trustees, if the dear girl insisted on living in Attica.

  It seemed a satisfactory letter otherwise. Of course his father was right to reject Cassander’s offer. Cassander had made himself a king, and could not back down because he found the calling dangerous. A king fights on until he is beaten.

  During that winter, the twentieth winter of war since the death of Alexander. Demetrius was too busy to think of Lamia. Once or twice he visited Athens, where Stratocles still ruled the Assembly; but he found it more interesting to train his troops than to drink and make love, even with the hetairae of Athens. He was too busy to play the god; though sometimes, on the advice of Stratocles, he issued divine commands, which the Athenians would obey more willingly than the orders of a Macedonian general.

  By spring his splendid army was ready to take the field. The League furnished 25,000 citizen spearmen; young Pyrrhus led 8,000 Epirots and Macedonians, paid soldiers but not exactly mercenaries since many of them had followed him into exile; there were 15,000 ordinary mercenaries; those discreditable allies the pirates provided 8,000 light infantry. But he could recruit only 1,500 horse to balance his 56,000 foot; for good cavalry came from Thessaly, which obeyed Cassander.

  It was said that Cassander had been able to raise no more than 30,000 men. The Macedonians were tired of the endless war, and discontented under the rule of a king not of the ancient line.

  The plan of campaign was simple. Demetrius would invade Macedonia by way of Thessaly. If Cassander should fight he must lose; if he retired before the invasion his own subjects would overthrow him. Meanwhile Antigonus would advance towards the Hellespont with the Hellene mercenaries of Asia and the numerous Asiatic cavalry. He must beat Lysimachus before he crossed into Europe, but that should not be too difficult; unless indeed Lysimachus abandoned his unprofitable alliance with Cassander to make terms with the new rulers of the world.

  Surprisingly, Cassander advanced into Thessaly to meet the invasion. Too weak to offer battle in the open field, he fortified a strong position among the Thessalian hills. The news from Macedonia was even more surprising. Cassander was relying on Lysimachus; not only did he send Macedonian silver to pay his ally’s troops, he encouraged him to recruit barbarian mercenaries from the tribes along the Danube. Kings did not usually trust their allies so far.

  The Army of United Hellas halted before Cassander’s entrenchments. Demetrius took a close look at the lines and was discouraged by what he saw. Neither citizen-levies nor mercenaries would willingly face a frontal assault on such a position, and with so few horse he dared not manoeuvre among the hills. After a day of indecision Demetrius dug in before the enemy. He had an easy line of supply back to Hellas, and enough money to last the summer. If he waited, hunger might force Cassander to retire from his fortifications. This business of uniting the civilised world always seemed to go more slowly than expected.

  Three days later young Pyrrhus strode into headquarters while Demetrius was going over his accounts. Demetrius looked up with an inward groan. The leader of an allied army must waste a great deal of his time being civil to subordinates.

  But on active service Pyrrhus never wasted time. He drew himself up, gave a smart salute, and grunted: ‘Permission to speak, my lord god?’

  ‘Stand easy, brother-in-law,’ Demetrius answered affably. ‘Or better still, sit down. What can I do for you?’

  ‘Nothing, thank you.’ Pyrrhus perched on a stool with a sigh of relaxation. ‘All the same, there’s something you ought to know. Trouble is, I can’t put a name to it.’

  After a pause and a frown he suddenly barked: ‘This campaign is all wrong. It doesn’t make sense. Cassander is acting like a fool - but we know he isn’t a fool. So something must be going on somewhere else that we don’t know about.’

  ‘I don’t understand,’ said Demetrius. ‘Cassander isn’t strong enough to fight, so he digs in. He has held us up for three days and he will hold us up much longer. I don’t see anything foolish in that.’

  ‘But there is. You have money, Cassander is poor. Your men are keen, his are half-hearted. Cassander plays for time, yet time is on our side. What’s at the back of it?’

  ‘I don’t know. I can’t imagine. Our agents in Macedonia would tell us of anything new. Besides, all the enemy troops are in front of us. I know the total of Cassander’s army, and it’s here.

  ‘I don’t know - but I can guess,’ he continued after a pause. ‘Cassander is brave, so he marches to meet the invasion. Then he finds he dares not fight against odds of nearly two to one. But he doesn’t want to retreat so he digs in and waits for something to turn up. Any commander who doesn’t know what to do next digs in and waits for something to turn up.’

  ‘That’s what you are meant to think, my good man,’ Pyrrhus was too excited to speak with proper respect. ‘You are meant to think it - and therefore it isn’t so. Cassander is deceiving us - “amusing” us as they call it in the manuals. I can’t prove that, but I can smell it. I have a nose for these things, and I ask you to trust me. It isn’t the way Macedonians fight. It’s my belief that this isn’t the main theatre of war. Cassander holds up your mighty army, almost 60,000 strong; while someone else, somewhere else, does something pretty nasty to us - what news of Lysimachus?’ he shot out.

  ‘Nothing startling. He’s beyond the Hellespont, trying to face my father. He is heavily outnumbered, for all his barbarian mercenaries.’

  ‘Well then, Ptolemy?’

  ‘Far away. I smashed his fleet, remember, and he hasn’t built another. He might march into Syria, but it would take him a long time to reach Antigoneia.’

  ‘Then there must be someone else. Seleucus, perhaps?’

  ‘Perhaps is the word for Seleucus. He is Ptolemy’s ally, and therefore our enemy. But his miserable Asiatics are no good on the battlefield. Besides, when last heard of he was on the borders of India, making peace with the Indian kings.’

  ‘All the same, trust me,’ Pyrrhus said earnestly. ‘I like my sister, and I want to safeguard her husband. Don’t attack Cassander. Make a truce if you can. And find out what is happening in Asia.’

  ‘Perhaps my father is dead, and his generals fighting one another? Otherwise I don’t see what could have gone wrong. But I’ll be cautious. I believe in your nose. It really does tell you when there’s something fishy about a campaign. I’ll send messengers to Asia.’

  The messengers reported back sooner than had been expected. Lysimachus had crossed the Hellespont, as Demetrius had supposed. The unexpected news was that he was carrying all before him. Demetrius took Pyrrhus for a walk in the open, where they might talk without being overheard.

  ‘You were right,’ he said ruefully. ‘The real centre of ope
rations is Asia, and to make matters worse I don’t understand what is happening there. Has Lysimachus found a new gold mine? Every day decent soldiers desert my father to join him, and the only explanation is bribery. Lampsacus gave him a port of entry. Well, a free democratic city changes sides at a whim. But my father’s governors in Phrygia and Lydia have also gone over to the enemy. Docimus and Phoenix are ordinary Macedonian professionals, who came into Asia with Alexander. My father is no fool, and for twenty years he had trusted them. Why did they change sides?’

  ‘I can answer that one.’ Pyrrhus was cheerful. ‘The Saviour God Antigonus is the protector of his peasantry. He won’t let his governors rob their subjects. Under Lysimachus they will have a free hand. Where is King Antigonus, by the way?’

  ‘Still on the Orontes, when I last heard from him. Eventually he must march west to deal with Lysimachus. But he wrote that he was delaying in Syria because of rumours that Seleucus was up to something.’

  ‘He’s losing his touch,’ said Pyrrhus with a grave shake of the head. ‘He’s a very old man, and perhaps he sees only what’s immediately under his nose. Seleucus is nearer than Lysimachus, so he worries about him. But Seleucus can’t be a danger, because he can’t recruit decent soldiers. Oh, his Persian horse are good, but what can he put in his phalanx? Babylonian peasants? He may be rich, but Hellene mercenaries can reach him only by crossing your father’s dominions. Surely the old gentleman can stop that.’

  ‘Perhaps my father is happy building his new capital, and won’t leave it before he has to. Planning a new city must be fun. But we shall have to do something about Lysimachus. After all these years I hate to leave Cassander still ruling in Macedonia, but it looks as though we must take the army into Asia.’

  ‘An appropriate task for the Captain General of Hellas. Besides, isn’t Cassander your brother-in-law? I don’t suppose you are especially eager to destroy him.’

  ‘There’s nothing in that, my dear brother-in-law,’ said Demetrius with a smile. ‘Dear Phila’s other sisters are married to Lysimachus and Ptolemy. The only one of our enemies who isn’t related to me by marriage is Seleucus, who has stuck to the barbarian wife he married to please Alexander.’

  ‘Well, I look forward to fighting in Asia. I know Thessaly too well. It will be fun to march through unfamiliar country.’

  That was the trouble with Pyrrhus. He thought only of soldiering, and did not mind how the war went so long as he might fight interesting battles.

  A few days later a worried deputation found its way into camp from the city of Ephesus. For more than twenty years the citadel of Ephesus had been held for Antigonus. The city was ruled by an oligarchy, and therefore excluded from the Hellene League; but the oligarchs were loyal to the Saviour Gods, for Lysimachus had announced that as soon as he had taken the place he would set up a democracy.

  The envoys had been a long time on their journey. They had sailed first to Corinth, the centre of the League; and from thence gone on to Athens, the rear headquarters of the army. They had delayed in Athens for nearly a month, screwing up their courage to visit the seat of war.

  They came to seek help, though not very urgently. They knew of no immediate military threat, but the populace was restless. Last year an earthquake had damaged the walls, which meant increased taxation for repairs. Now a comet had appeared in the sky; the Carian peasants of the countryside believed it portended a change of rulers, and the belief had spread to the lower orders of the citizens. The oligarchs would feel happier if the Saviour Gods could find time to visit them.

  ‘Perhaps I ought to make a truce with Cassander,’ Demetrius said to Pyrrhus. ‘He’ll give me one if I ask for it - anything to postpone the decisive battle which may lose him his kingdom. It seems that I really am needed in Asia,’

  “If you make a truce Cassander will reinforce Lysimachus,’ Pyrrhus pointed out. ‘Also, the League won’t let you take their troops to Asia while Macedonia is still unconquered. But I leave negotiations to you. Anyway, I would like to fight Lysimachus. It looks as though he is a very fine general,’

  Luckily negotiations were far advanced when the desperate appeal from Antigonus reached Thessaly. Earlier letters must have gone astray.

  ‘Come at once,’ the old man wrote,’ or you may never see your father. I was forced out of Antigoneia. I could not hold it against Seleucus, who now occupies all Syria and Cilicia. I am before Dorylaeum, where Lysimachus is cornered. But Prepelaus, who held Megara against you, marches through Ionia carrying all before him; and Seleucus is pushing forward into Cappadocia. I am needed in three places at once. My household and yours are in Ephesus, which ought to be safe for the present. But you must leave the Macedonian campaign, or all Asia may be lost behind you,’

  ‘I’ll go today and see Cassander,’ Demetrius told Pyrrhus. ‘We shall agree on a truce, if I have to give him all Boeotia. This afternoon you start making out movement-orders. The army to Chalcis immediately, then by sea to Ephesus. The fleet to cruise north by the Hellespont and Propontis, and if Father has really cornered him that will be one enemy crushed.’

  ‘But I wish someone would explain why Seleucus has suddenly become a mighty conqueror,’ Pyrrhus complained. ‘It can’t be his army. I refuse to believe that Babylonian foot can drive Hellene mercenaries before them. Nobody tells me anything. I shall be glad to reach Ephesus,’

  10. THE BATTLE OF THE KINGS

  In Ephesus there was no royal palace, and to expel the priests from the precinct of the local goddess, a very barbarous embodiment of Artemis, would have caused discontent. The Saviour Gods must use as headquarters a group of private houses near the citadel. They were owned by oligarchs, who might be expelled without danger; for the oligarchy would fall from power if the Saviour Gods lost Ephesus.

  It was nearly midwinter when Demetrius rode in with his phalanx and his cavalry; his spearmen and light infantry had been left to garrison the northerly cities of Ionia. In the marketplace his father waited to give him a formal welcome.

  King Antigonus rose from his throne in greeting, though he leaned heavily on the shoulder of a page. The old man was fatter than ever; muffled against the cold in a long scarlet cloak, he seemed of more than mortal size. But he had not aged since their last meeting; if anything he looked younger. The thrills and perils of active service had renewed the vigour of his youth. As he embraced his son his single eye twinkled cheerfully; he looked good for two or three more campaigns.

  All over the market-place they were sacrificing bulls in honour of the Saviour Gods. But the priests went about their work glumly; the only citizens who cheered were poor householders in search of free beef.

  ‘Never mind, my boy,’ said Antigonus, seeing his son glance at the indifferent crowd. ‘It’s partly the weather, and partly that confounded comet. They expect us to be beaten. We’ll show them how wrong they are.’

  ‘May I present King Pyrrhus?’ said Demetrius. Exiles take offence so quickly that you must be polite to them before talking business. ‘He is the rightful King of Epirus, though for the moment Cassander has set up a rival.’

  ‘Rightful king? There’s no such creature.’ His father’s voice boomed heartily. ‘Kings rule by the sword, and by no stronger title. The same is true of Saviour Gods, by the way. But you’ll get back, young Pyrrhus. You win battles, and that’s the most important attribute of a king.’

  A priest handed him a cup of wine. ‘May Zeus and Ares grant us good fortune,’ he grabbed in a perfunctory tone as he poured it on the ground. ‘Come, that’s enough religion for one day. The bulls are dead, and if Ares isn’t pleased I can’t suggest a better way of pleasing him. Let’s come up to my house - you can’t call it a palace - and talk over the news. Phila is waiting for you, Demetrius. I suppose that’s all right?’

  Pyrrhus spoke up quickly. ‘My sister Queen Deidameia is in Athens, taking care of our treasure and our hospitals and so on, everything we left behind to avoid the hazards of a voyage. She has been a great help to us.’<
br />
  ‘Ah, you keep your wives in separate continents. Sensible fellow.’ King Antigonus smacked his son on the shoulder. ‘Phila will be delighted to see you, and there need be no awkward introductions.’

  The house requisitioned for King Antigonus was comfortable, though there was no room in it for the clerks of army headquarters. The lady Phila met them at the door of the women’s quarters, with her daughter Stratonice beside her; her son Antigonus was with the cavalry on the northern front.

  ‘Welcome home, husband,’ was all Phila said, making the curtsy of a dutiful wife. Immediately Demetrius felt a change in the whole cast of his mind. In Hellas he had been a leader and an adventurer, fighting for his own hand because he was a better man than any of these Hellene politicians; now he had come home to defend his father and his family, and must if necessary lay down his life for them. That was how Phila affected everyone. In her presence you could not feel treacherous or selfish.

  With Pyrrhus she was respectful but at her ease, the great lady speaking to a king whose birth was little higher than hers. No one mentioned Deidameia; perhaps only Pyrrhus recalled her existence. The family council got down at once to business.

  ‘Well, things are better than they were at midsummer,’ said Demetrius with pride in his voice. ‘Prepelaus chased out of Ionia, and Lysimachus cut off from Europe. I’m not boasting, for I didn’t command my fleet. All the same, we hold the narrow seas from the Hellespont to the Euxine, and that clown Pleistarchus has lost all his transports. Lysimachus gets no more reinforcements. He must fight us with what he brought with him.’

  ‘But he is safe in Heraclea,’ said old Antigonus regretfully. ‘I don’t see that I could have done any more, but I couldn’t bring him to battle. He’s a beautiful tactician. I dug in outside Dorylaeum until my men had shifted half the mud in Asia, and then he slipped away just as the circle was closing. In other strong positions he did exactly the same thing, all with wonderful timing and a superb eye for country. Odd how he lay low all these years. No one knew he was a good soldier. I wish he were on our side. Is there any chance of persuading him to join us?’