‘None, unfortunately,’ said Phila with decision. In these councils she spoke up like a man. ‘He hates Demetrius, and has hated him for years. There’s a reason, some cutting remark that got back to him, but I’ve forgotten what it was. He ordered Nicaea never to write to me again, and she agreed on condition she might send one final letter to explain the reason for her silence. That was two years ago, and I haven’t heard from her since. Lysimachus will fight Demetrius until one of them is dead. He’s that kind of man.’
‘I wonder what I said?’ Demetrius murmured. ‘I wish I knew. I might use it again to annoy some other king. Oh well, if Lysimachus won’t join us it’s his loss. In the end we shall beat him. But what you haven’t explained, Father, is how Seleucus could chase you from the Orontes to Ionia. Surely you aren’t afraid of him?’
‘He didn’t chase me,’ Antigonus answered indignantly. ‘I marched west to deal with Lysimachus, and he followed up like the jackal he is. I didn’t fight him in the first place, when he appeared on the Orontes, because my best foot were already in Phrygia and my horse couldn’t cope with his elephants.’
‘Are elephants so important?’ asked Pyrrhus with interest. ‘Every good army has a few, but I thought of them as only an embellishment to impress the mercenaries. You know - the troops equipped regardless of expense. I never knew that elephants could get the better of good cavalry.’
‘They can’t, if the cavalry have been trained to face them,’ Antigonus answered. ‘That’s the point. The first time horses meet elephants they run away from them. They can be trained to approach the strange beasts, but it takes time. My cavalry in Antigoneia were not elephant-proof, so I thought it better to withdraw. Seleucus brought a great many elephants against me.’
‘How many?’ asked Pyrrhus, determined to get to the bottom of this new tactical device.
‘About five hundred, I suppose.’
Demetrius could not conceal his amazement. ‘What! Five hundred! I didn’t know there were so many in the world. Five years ago we Saviour Gods had the best part of a hundred, and that was more than any other civilised army possessed. How on earth did Seleucus get hold of so many?’
‘He brought them from the Indians, at a very high price. He went especially to India to buy them. I gather that he ceded three satrapies in payment. He must suppose that so many elephants will make him invincible.’
‘The Indians don’t hold them invincible,’ Pyrrhus said sharply. ‘They know elephants better than we do. They wouldn’t sell them to foreigners if they would make the foreigners invincible.’
‘Wait a minute,’ said Phila, her hand on her brow. ‘I’m trying to remember something. Seleucus was in India with Alexander, wasn’t he? He did well in the battle against Porus the Indian King. What was his command?’
‘He led the phalanx,’ said Antigonus after a pause. ‘He was always an infantryman, holding the line while Alexander charged with the horse and won the battle.’
‘What’s that?’ Pyrrhus was excited. ‘Let me see, what’s the story of the defeat of Porus? It’s the most famous battle of modern times, and it’s always described in the same way. Elephants attacked our phalanx. The phalanx turned them back, which discouraged the Indian foot. Then Alexander led a cavalry charge, and completed the rout. That’s what the veterans tell us. They make it sound quite easy; as though elephants were a silly barbarian weapon, useless against Hellenes. That’s what you heard at the time, wasn’t it, King Antigonus?’
‘Yes, that’s what everyone said at the time,’ the old man agreed. ‘I was never in India, you know. I stayed behind to govern Asia. Elephants have considerable moral effect, especially against barbarians; but steady foot can turn them. All the training manuals are agreed on that.’
‘But Seleucus fought against elephants. He knows how dangerous they can be. He sold three satrapies to buy them. The phalanx turned back the elephants, but Seleucus was there and saw what a near thing it was. All the other leaders were with Alexander, and did not realise the danger. The lady Phila has discovered something important. We must beware of Seleucus and his elephants.’ Pyrrhus strode up and down the room, waving his arms.
‘If he knew of this invincible weapon it has taken him a long time to make use of it,’ said Demetrius. ‘For ten years he has been our enemy. I have plundered his city of Babylon. He was afraid to stand up to us then, though India had as many elephants then as it has now. I think King Pyrrhus exaggerated the danger. Put it like this: Seleucus was persuaded to join in the general attack on us. He can’t recruit good infantry from among his downtrodden oriental serfs, so he bought elephants instead. That still doesn’t mean that elephants can beat good infantry.’
‘It’s an interesting point,’ Pyrrhus said stubbornly. ‘I like discussing these things. How fascinating to see the beginning of a new era in tactics! ’
‘Even if you see it from the losing side? A single-minded soldier! ’ said old Antigonus sardonically. ‘Well, next summer we’ll know the answer. Until then we must drill our soldiers and make sure they are paid up to date. I can’t imagine Seleucus as a great conqueror. For years he has lurked in a corner while better men struggled for the Empire.’
Throughout the winter the Saviour Gods ruled their diminished realm from their temporary capital at Ephesus. Demetrius felt himself grow younger. Back in the bosom of his family, the adventures and dissipations of Hellas faded from his mind. All day he rode beside his father’s litter, while that amazing old man exercised the troops; in the evening he chatted with Phila and little Stratonice. He cut down his drinking, and went to bed early. He felt as fit as any young subaltern.
The Saviour Gods were popular with their subjects, both Hellene and barbarian. The harvest had been plentiful; and the repair of earthquake-damaged walls gave employment. That ill-timed comet still unsettled popular opinion; but the soothsayers explained, as instructed, that it portended a change of rulers in Macedonia, not in Phrygia. The Ionians, raided by Prepelaus and liberated by Demetrius, were glad to be once more under the protection of the strongest navy in the world. The Saviour Gods might march to battle with no fear of rebellion behind them.
Unfortunately the treason of his commanders on the Propontis had made a deep impression on Antigonus. He knew that the citizens and peasants of Asia were loyal, but he suspected his subordinate governors. He went so far as to demand hostages from them.
Phila was so shocked that she approached her husband. ‘That’s how the Persians used to rule,’ she complained. ‘It’s unworthy of a Macedonian, who ought to be more honourable than an ordinary Hellene. Your father should trust his governors. If he doesn’t trust them he should appoint others. What will he do with these hostages, anyway? Will he kill innocent children because their fathers rebel? That’s worse than cruel, it’s dishonourable. You must stop him.’
When Phila called something dishonourable she was condemning it as strongly as she could. Demetrius took her opinion seriously, though he did not entirely agree with it.
‘It’s all very well to say: Appoint loyal governors and then trust them,’ he answered. ‘We must work with the material we have. The troopers of my father’s bodyguard are devoted to him, but you can’t give them command of cities or fortresses. A city must be governed by a Hellene of some standing, and for castles in the mountains you need a Persian of noble birth. These men rule by influence and prestige. But I don’t like taking hostages any more than you do. I shall speak to Father about it.’
Antigonus would not release his hostages. All Demetrius got out of his appeal was a promise that his father would consult him before killing any individual hostage; which made matters worse rather than better, for Antigonus would decide and yet his son would be implicated.
Antigonus worried about the approaching campaign. He began to speak of lucky and unlucky dreams, a bad sign in a carefree old atheist who had been deified into the bargain. Demetrius tried to ridicule these fancies.
‘Dreams are not omens, and if they were, o
mens can be made to mean anything. Wasn’t it in these parts that Croesus ruled, who was told by Apollo that if he made war he would destroy a great kingdom? After his defeat the priests at Delphi explained that the kingdom they had in mind was his own realm of Lydia. You cannot foretell the future, and if you could it would be unmanly to cringe before what Fortune has in store for you. Every man makes his own future. Antigonus the King does it in a greater degree than most men.’
The old man shook his head. ‘You are thirty-five, and you know everything. I am eighty-five, and I don’t know what to believe. The whole human race believes in prophetic dreams. The gods don’t come into it. I am a god, and so are you; perhaps the other gods matter no more than we do. But my dreams come from outside me, they seem to mean something, and the most reasonable explanation is that they are sent as a warning.’
He went on. ‘Last night I had a dream full of meaning. I would like to tell you about it. But first you must promise never to tell anyone else.’
‘Must I, Father? Shall I also put away my javelins?’
Antigonus smiled at the allusion. Twenty years ago young Demetrius had come in from hunting to find his father giving audience to barbarian envoys; he strolled into the audience chamber with his javelins still on his shoulder. The barbarians were amazed. In their land no king’s heir was allowed to approach his father armed. Ever since, those hunting javelins had been the private symbol of the trust and affection which bound together all the household of Antigonus.
‘Hold this instead of a javelin,’ said the old man, pushing over the scabbarded sword which leaned against his chair. ‘But I want you to keep this secret. The troops mustn’t know that I am guided by dreams, and yet this dream was so convincing that I shall act on it. Will you promise?’
‘Very well. I promise never to tell anyone.’
‘I dreamed about young Mithradates, the son of Ariobarzanes. I was sowing gold in a field, to raise a crop of nuggets. But no harvest came up, because Mithradates followed me and picked up my gold as fast as I scattered it. That must mean that he will go over to Lysimachus, mustn’t it? I have seldom dreamed anything more easily interpreted.’
‘To me it is not so clear. If the dream is mistaken about gold- production, and surely it is, couldn’t it be mistaken about the fidelity of Mithradates?’
‘That’s a point. But in this crisis it’s better to be safe than sorry. Mithradates will be put away, quietly. Even if I am wrong it’s no great loss. There are too many of these young Persian nobles, who live extravagantly and run into debt and can never be trusted by a Hellene ruler.’
Demetrius said nothing. Mithradates was his friend, a gallant young horseman and in his barbarian way a gentleman. It would be sad if he were killed, and worse than sad if he were murdered for no reason. But he had promised to keep silence.
That evening he very nearly told Phila. A sophist might argue that his wife was part of himself, and that to tell her was not to break his promise. Then he honestly recalled that this was not the relation existing between Phila and himself, though it might be true of some married couples. All the same, he needed her advice. He told her merely that a friend of his was in danger, and that he had promised not to warn him.
‘You promised not to tell anyone, I suppose? You ought never to have given the promise in the first place, but now that it has been given it must be kept. Perhaps you can think of a way to warn your friend without telling him. But if I were to show you how to do it, that would be cheating,’
The hint was clear; Phila, the soul of honour, thought it sufficient that he should keep the most literal meaning of his promise. Next day he rode out hunting with young Mithradates; when they were alone together he scratched on the ground with the point of his javelin two words: ‘Flee, Mithradates’. Within an hour the Persian was riding for Cappadocia, where his family held wide estates.
Never again did Antigonus mention Mithradates; but the incident affected him - for the worse. His loyal son and colleague had thwarted him, which must mean that old age was beginning to impair his judgement. He distrusted his own mind. Within a few days, for these things cannot be kept secret, his army shared the distrust. The old king was senile; his memory was going. These orders of his might be all right but - Better check them with Demetrius or Pyrrhus or Telesphorus before carrying them out.
Early in the new year, too early for campaigning in Phrygia, came news that Ptolemy had invaded Syria. The Saviour Gods could do nothing about it. Now that Antigoneia had been destroyed, Syria was not a country they cared to remember.
Antigonus had lost his dash. Instead of committing himself to some bold strategy he hovered between alternatives; he thought more of keeping his great army intact than of acting decisively. He should have marched with all his force against either Lysimachus or Seleucus. But that needed more courage than he could muster, for then the other foe would be free to march unopposed on Ephesus. Among the uplands of Phrygia he hesitated and countermarched until Seleucus had slipped past him to link up with his ally. The Saviour Gods had thrown away the advantage of their central position. The united army of their enemies now equalled them in numbers.
The climax must come quickly, for all these great armies were cut off from their treasuries. The fleet of Demetrius lay between Lysimachus and Thrace; Seleucus could not communicate with Babylon; the Saviour Gods held nothing, out of all their extensive territories, save Phrygia and the cities of Ionia. Each king was anxious to fight while he could still pay his mercenaries.
At the little barbarian village of Ipsus in Phrygia, Antigonus summoned a council of war. With the approach of battle his courage had revived. He did not fear death and once pikes were levelled he would know what to do. But his huge frame was wearing out with old age. He lay back on a couch, his single eye wandering over the roof of his tent, while Demetrius expounded the situation.
‘We have the enemy order of battle,’ he began. ‘We must remember in return that they probably know our strength. Anyway, by tomorrow at latest we shall be able to count every pike in the phalanx. They are camped twelve miles off, eager to fight. We also want to fight, so tomorrow battle will be joined.’
‘Who commands them, Seleucus or Lysimachus?’ asked Pyrrhus.
‘Seleucus has ceded the first place, though he’s the senior general. That’s a bit of bad luck for us. Lysimachus is the better soldier, but it’s unfortunate that Seleucus recognised it without argument. Now this is what they bring against us. A Macedonian phalanx, about 10,000 strong. About 20,000 spearmen, Hellene or armed in the Hellene fashion. Another 30,000 barbarian foot, good Persian spearmen or useless Babylonian skirmishers. Say 65,000 foot in all, three-quarters of them as good as ours. Their horse are about 10,000, all good Thessalians, Thracians or Persians. Then they have these elephants. A few died during the winter, so call them 470 and we shan’t be far wrong. As I said, Lysimachus is in supreme command, so I suppose Antiochus son of Seleucus will lead the horse.’
Pyrrhus had been counting on his fingers. ‘Except for the elephants there’s very little in it,’ he said. ‘Horse about equal, and ours as good as theirs. We have rather more foot, and better men at that. No panicky Babylonians in our ranks. But our seventy-five elephants will be greatly outnumbered. I wish I knew how much difference that makes.’
‘I can tell you about elephants,’ old Antigonus put in, still gazing at the roof. ‘I’ve never seen five hundred at once, but I have worked with them since they were known to Hellenes. They are dangerous, but you can’t depend on them. Each elephant carries an Indian driver, who can speak to it in its own language. If the Indian is killed the elephant becomes unmanageable. There is a very fair chance that it will become unmanageable anyway, especially if it gets a javelin in the trunk. You can never guess what will frighten an elephant. I’ve been told that they fear little yapping dogs. The point is that only the Indian can explain to the elephant whose side it is on. An elephant that has lost its Indian will attack any man within reach, which means th
at it often charges through its own phalanx. I’m not afraid of elephants.’
‘But Seleucus, who knows more about elephants than any other Macedonian, values them at three satrapies. Perhaps he is mistaken,’ muttered Telesphorus.
‘Anyway, I know how we shall deal with them,’ Antigonus continued. ‘Lysimachus will march to meet us, as we march to meet him. Elephants always march in the rear, where they won’t bother the cavalry. Furthermore, it takes them hours to get into line, and if you hurry the Indians they turn sulky and stop trying. So we shall attack before Lysimachus has deployed his elephants. Now listen to me.’
Wheezing, he struggled to sit upright. Then he spoke in the ghost of his old parade-ground voice.
‘You, King Pyrrhus, will command on the left wing. You will have all the light infantry, javelins, targeteers, slingers and so on; with not more than a thousand horse on your outer flank. Your job is to hold the enemy right wing. My litter will be carried in the middle of the phalanx; though my grandson and namesake will hold the titular command, with my nephew Telesphorus to help him. We shall engage the enemy phalanx. We attack with our right wing, under King Demetrius. He will have nearly all the cavalry, and he will charge as soon as the enemy are within reach. Do you understand, Demetrius? No speech before battle, no sacrifice to read the omens. You get your men galloping when the enemy are half a mile off. The idea is that you crash into the enemy’s left wing before they have time to deploy their elephants. Of course, after the troops in front of you are beaten you wheel your squadron left to help our phalanx in the centre. But I need not go into that. Any questions?’
‘Remember that I also am a king,’ said Pyrrhus. ‘Can’t you find me a more dignified command than light infantry, and on the left?’
Elephants and Castles Page 17
