The queen had not seen her husband since his return from Methone, but she was aware of his eye loss. She approached him, offering her hand. "Does your injury still cause you pain, Philip?"
"The pain is gone. Soon, my energy will return."
"The Phocians have much to fear when that happens," she said with a droll smile.
Philip was startled but not surprised that his wife knew of a decision that he had made only two days ago. He suddenly realized that every palace priest must be her agent. Her spy network was better than he thought. No matter. Let her play her palace games; it would occupy her in his absence. "Bring my son. Where is he?"
"He's sleeping."
"Awaken him. We'll ride in the hills until sunset. The child came to me in a dream last night. He told me that he longs for the feel of horse flesh under his buttocks."
Olympias rose and motioned for one of her attendants to get Alexander. "I'm pleased that you want to be with him, Philip. He's a perfect baby. One day we'll both be proud of him."
"I'll make him into a fighting Macedonian. Your only reason for living now is to keep him healthy and intellectually curious. Start taking him to dramatic and musical productions. When he starts walking, I'll get him a small pony. Our son will lead Macedon's cavalry, and horsemanship training must begin early."
"What about his formal education? Have you thought of that while you're dressing him in armor and forcing a sword into his hand?"
"That'll start when he's five. When I have time, I'll arrange for a life-tutor. I want an older man. He'll be taught social graces and how to read and write Attic Greek. Others will condition his body for the hardships of battle and introduce him to the military sciences. This learning will end when he is thirteen. Then, one of the Athenian philosophers will instruct him. The fool Socrates chose hemlock over coming to Pella. That will change when Alexander matures. Every Greek pedagogue will clamor for an invitation to teach Macedon's crown prince."
"It's a wise plan. I know just the right person for his life-tutor. His name is Leonidas, a kinsman of mine. He lives in Epirus. Do I have your permission to bring him here? I want him to observe Alexander during his infancy."
Philip thought, then said, "Bring him to Pella. I'll check his qualifications when I return from victory in Phocis. If he meets my approval, I'll make him Alexander's life-tutor."
"It will be done." The queen walked to her bedroom doorway where Alexander's wet nurse, a woman named Lanice, stood holding their son.
Olympias took the child, walked to Philip, and handed him to his father. "Don't let him fall as you charge through the countryside.”
"Go fondle your vile worms, Olympias! If you put yourself between my son, and me you'll regret it. You're lucky we produced him so early in our marriage. I'll never enter your accursed bedchamber again. Sex will be in my room from now on. Were it not for Alexander, you'd be languishing in your mountains." The king turned to leave. He was stopped with a last request from his rebuked consort.
"A final matter," Olympias said in a cold, venomous tone. "You've been told by the oracle at Delphi to honor Zeus-Ammon the rest of your days. As you've seen, I've completed my temple to Orpheus outside the palace. I want to begin an even grander temple to our Egyptian deity, on a plot of land not far from the great banquet hall. May I begin it?"
Philip considered the request. Left to her misty-eyed religious designs, his wife would spend all the gold Philips that his new mint could produce. Yet Apollo's oracular command was clear. He couldn't afford to lose another eye. "Begin construction," the king answered tersely. Then he put Alexander on his shoulders and left for what would be the wildest and most dangerous horseback ride his tiny son had yet experienced.
The Macedonian army, over ten thousand strong, arrived in Larissa when spring was giving way to increasingly warmer early summer days. Philip found the ride south fatiguing, often resting for the greater part of the day only to rejoin his main force by nightfall. When his army arrived in the friendly city of Larissa, there began an immediate series of military strategy sessions. Political leaders, generals and representatives from Thebes were at the meetings. Attending also were pro-Macedonian Thessaly, Locris, and anti-Phocian factions of the Amphictionic League.
King Philip was chosen archon by the Thessalians and plans for an immediate campaign against Phocis and her allies were set into motion. The allied armies, under Philip's command, then started maneuvers seeking a quick battle with the Phocian forces. The two armies met and the Phocians prevailed. It was Philip's first defeat. After his retreat and the allies' tattered army was safe, he angrily reflected on what had happened.
He spent the next weeks in nonstop strategy sessions, especially with the Thessalians, insuring that the allied command structure was improved. At last, Philip deemed the previous failures of his army corrected and he began movement again toward the Phocian forces. This time he would defeat his stubborn and able enemy.
The opposing armies met in hilly terrain, unfamiliar to the Macedonian king but tellingly familiar to Onomarchus, the Phocian commander. Because of superior Phocian artillery, hidden behind a hill, Philip and the allies were defeated soundly a second time. Philip had to rush his bloodied army into Northern Thessaly, not far from Macedon's borders.
Philip decided to winter in Pella after the two demoralizing defeats and rebuild his ravaged army. News of the formerly invulnerable Macedonian army's defeats by inconsequential Phocis spread quickly. Philip was human after all. Insurrections and rebellions began along the periphery of Macedonia. Illyria, Macedon's ancient tormentor, launched attacks against Macedonian border posts. Paeonia became restless, and what remained of independent Thrace was given hope that Philip would not renew his eastward movement.
Most pleased was Athens, still at war with Macedon. She sent a fleet of triremes to Thrace and hoped to bring the city states not already committed to Philip over to Athens. Demosthenes reveled in Philip's defeats and told the Athenian boule that the Macedonian king's end was imminent.
There were even discordant rumblings between Pella's citizens and Macedonian provincial chieftains that supplied most of the king's soldiers. Philip knew that he had to take immediate action or he would soon be deposed. He began a series of brutal military critiquing sessions with his top commanders. Charged with leading the analyses, in meetings that frequently bordered on rowdy brawls, were Parmenio, Attalus, and Antipater. Every aspect of the army's action and inaction was subjected to scrutiny and contentious examination. Finally, conclusions were drawn, lessons were learned, and needed improvements began.
Philip accepted responsibility for the two defeats. He had failed to send scouts around the hills the day and evening before the second disastrous Phocian defeat. His spies and intelligence unit under Attalus had failed to show the true strength of Phocis's mercenaries. He had only just learned that they were paid half again as much as league and Macedonian mercenaries. Never again would anyone out-pay or out-bribe the Macedonian king.
The Phocian mercenaries represented the first large and well-trained army that the king had ever faced and he had clearly underestimated his adversary. Most importantly, the artillery and catapults that the enemy had used to tear apart his charging hoplites and companions were far more effective than anything that Macedon currently had. Orders were given to begin a crash program that would eventually lead to his forces having the same artillery catapults that had decimated his forces in the hills of central Greece.
When the Pella strategy sessions were completed, the king sent Parmenio and Antipater to Illyria and Paeonia to suppress the rebellions that had broken out. These rebels had to be taught a lesson. If the lessons were severe enough, word of Macedon's military resurgence would give Philip time to get through the winter.
Attalus returned to Larissa, where he was charged with setting up a more effective cadre of spies. These spies would warn Macedon of enemy capabilities long before a battle. They would become the long-range ears and eyes of Philip and many wo
uld become rich in the service of the Macedonian king. It became clear to everyone in the king's command structure that when he returned to central Greece in the spring, lessons learned from analysis of his humiliating misjudgments would produce an allied victory over Phocis. It was far too early to dismiss Philip of Macedon.
Philip only occasionally saw Olympias during that winter. Yet he knew of her actions and wished that Attalus's intelligence service were half as effective as his wife's priest network. Only once—during a violent encounter when he drunkenly went to Olympias' bedroom, carried her to his room, and nearly raped her—were they intimate. His sexual needs were satisfied by his concubines, mistresses brought in from the provinces and occasional romps with his young boys in the bath. Still, Philip occasionally longed for the relationship Olympias and he had at the beginning of their marriage. He had been enchanted with her in those days.
Lanice, Alexander’s faithful nurse, brought the king’s son, to him daily. It was now Alexander’s first birthday. The king became fast friends with Lanice and rewarded her greatly for the care and love that she gave Alexander. Lanice eventually brought her brother to meet the king. His name was Cleitus. Everyone called him Black Cleitus because of his dark skin and hair. Cleitus was a powerful man and the king often engaged in titanic wrestling bouts with him in the stadium. Philip soon made him an officer in his royal companion ranks and bragged about Cleitus's devotion.
The king continued what he considered Alexander's first military training. They were often seen racing through the narrow streets of Pella atop Philip's powerful Thessalian mount. It was common for father and son to disappear from the palace for days, only to return dirty, slightly bleeding, and smiling to an expectant court. His father introduced the still tiny prince to the hunt during these absences. Although superficially protected by his bodyguards, who lagged in the distance, Philip recklessly and bravely hunted wild boars and lions, armed with only a spear and shield. Leather straps tied Alexander to his father's back during these ferocious encounters.
Drunken banquets often followed these hunts. Little Alexander sat beside his father at the banquets and was introduced to the strong uncut wine that only Macedonian men drank. King Philip often bragged to his officers and court sycophants that his son never cried out or expressed fear during their joint hunting expeditions, right up to the moment of the kill itself.
As winter retreated and spring finally burst upon the Macedonian countryside, a state religious occasion required the king and queen to appear in public together. Olympias, clearly showing the advanced stages of her second pregnancy, had just completed her temple to Zeus-Ammon and the king decreed a three-day celebration. Banquets, athletic events, poetry readings, and theatrical productions were given to honor the god.
Olympias, only the day before, had led hundreds of Macedonian women into the hills around Pella to celebrate the coming of spring and to honor Orpheus. Today it was ZeusAmmon's turn, as King and Queen appeared at his magnificent temple together. Olympias's newly constructed temple had thirty-three Doric columns that supported an impressive pediment showing the twelve Olympian gods. Central among them was Zeus-Ammon. The temple's exterior was made of newly quarried stone from far off Thrace. Its interior was lined with the finest polished marble from the island quarries of Thasos.
"Your design is impressive," Philip said to his wife as they stood at the top of the temple stairs. "I didn't know that architectural genius was one of your talents." His tone was gentle, almost caring.
"I was inspired by Zeus-Ammon. This temple guarantees that you will always have use of your remaining eye. For that, you should be grateful."
She would have to bring up the eye. "Instruct my son in reverence to the god. He'll need his protection when we finally defeat the Persian king."
"He already has been blessed by him. I bring him here nearly every day, except when you have him in the hills, endangering his life."
"My son grows strong, Olympias, and fears nothing. Keep to your religious functions. Leave his manhood to me. Go! Preside over the dedication. Ask for the god's blessing for your husband and his army; we leave soon for central Greece. With his support, we'll take back the holy temple at Delphi. I'm sure that this will meet with both of your approvals."
"He has already informed me, through my priests, that you will succeed. Fear not. Victory will be yours."
Philip started to yell that he feared nothing on earth, but held back. He just wanted to get out of the ceremony as quickly as possible. Instead, he glared at her and pointed toward the temple abaton. He often attempted to direct Olympias with his index finger. Olympias returned the glare, and then rose to begin the ceremony. He watched Olympias's round body as she walked serenely to the abaton. Then he turned and took a seat beneath a royal canopy at one side of the building.
Olympias started.
Watching, Philip considered his impetuous wife. After she delivered her second child, perhaps he should seek better relations with her. She was playing an important religious and ceremonial function in his monarchy. Although overly doting on their son, she was doing a good job of raising him. For that, he was grateful. While the ceremony proceeded, he remembered the first time he had seen her in the garden on Samothrace. How much their lives had changed. He finally resolved that when he returned from Thessaly he would initiate a new day with Olympias. Women probably didn’t get much better than this. He had to admit, but only to himself, that he still cared for her. If only she weren’t so intelligent and demanding.
Snapping out of his reveries, he forced himself to fight several different mental battles with Onomarchus of Phocis. When he next returned to this temple, he would be hailed as the savior of the Apolline sanctuary at Delphi. For that, even Zeus-Ammon should be grateful.
Philip and his League allies met Onomarchus and the Phocian allies in Thessaly on a level field filled with crocus flowers. Onomarchus had 20,000 foot hoplites and 500 horse cavalry. The league allies had slightly more infantry but, importantly, boasted more than 3,000 mounted cavalry. Philip used the new Macedonian artillery and catapult devices with nearly as much devastation as Onomarchus had against him the year before.
One third of the Phocian army was killed or made prisoner in a monumental battle, and Onomarchus was killed. The remaining Phocians fled southward into their home territory, pursued by the victorious league allies. Philip was now master of Thessaly, and he prepared to free the temple at Delphi from what remained of Phocian domination. But Phocis resisted again with newfound mercenaries. Philip considered the cost of proceeding against the Phocians and made a reluctant decision to withdraw northward. He had gained a foothold in Greece proper. The Thessalian League voted him archon, a lifetime position for his role in saving the state.
As part of these agreements, the king took a new concubine, Nikesipolis of Pherai, and arranged for her to be taken to Pella. Thessaly was now his. He was hailed by all Greeks—except Sparta, Achaea, and Athens—as the savior of the sacred temple at Delphi. Although the Phocians still occupied the sanctuary, their power had been greatly diminished. Lurking behind defeated Phocis was Athens, as she had always been since Philip's accession. Athens had been content to let Phocis do the fighting against Philip, but now had been forced to exert herself in order to prevent the Macedonians from entering southern Greece through Thermopylae.
King Philip considered this only phase one of a multi-phased series of military, political, economic and social actions that it would take to convince Athens that he was the new leader of Greece. He still had a surprising respect for the queen city of Hellas. He would dominate, not destroy her. He would bide his time. Before long, there would come another time when, like the ram, he would return to butt even harder into the territory of southern Greece.
As he made final preparations for the return march home, he examined the latest dispatches from his capital. One was from Olympias. Tersely, it read: ‘A daughter was born to you today. I named her Kleopatra.’ Alexander had a sister and Phili
p knew that Olympias would be pleased that the child was a female. The birth would allow her to focus her attention even more intently on their only son, for her power would only grow as Alexander's power grew.
Loving his son as he did, Philip knew that he would have to give more attention to Olympias and her court activities. He was absent from Pella far too often to leave his ambitious wife to her dangerous designs.
Increase her religious involvement. Take her to bed regularly. Let her natural passion and prying zeal be tempered by her love of the gods and her disgusting worms. Two of her personal slaves were currently his spies, and the women reported her every move. But she still had the palace priests.
Only time and the fates would tell who would win the royal contest that was developing between the king and queen of Macedon.
CHAPTER 15
Demosthenes arrived at the Athenian boule on the Pnyx before sunrise. Troubled, he stood on the building's steps and gazed at the sleeping city he loved. Although they did not know it, although they wanted peace at any cost, every Athenian was in danger. Athens's leader, Eubulus, had stopped Philip, but Demosthenes knew that this was only the opening chapter in a Macedonian book of aggression. Athenians wanted the barbarian king held in place but were unwilling to take further action. Their false sense of security grew out of the cautious monetary policies of able Eubulus. His position as minister of finance meant that he controlled the Theoric Fund for four more years. The fund had originally been established to allow the poor to attend the theater. In recent years, it had been used to aid the poor in a variety of other programs.
A small military contingency fund, the Stratiotic Fund, had been the fiscal source Athens used to fund military ventures. Eubulus had recently gotten the ecclesia to alter the manner in which other account surpluses were used. He also succeeded in getting a law passed that allowed the Theoric fund to be used for only two reasons. A small portion could be used for theatrical productions—a policy that was popular with most Athenians. But the largest share went for developing Athens and its seaport, Piraeus. Trade and commercial expansion were goals of Eubulus's fiscal efforts. Critically, the fund could only be used for other purposes if it were repealed by legislative action of Athenian citizens voting in the assembly.
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