"That is all for today, sculptor. How far along are you?"
"Another day and a half should finish it, sir."
"Good. I shall see you tomorrow then. Rejoice!" Out he swept.
The Rhodian embassy had quarters in tents on the edge of town. When I retired that night, the ambassadors had not yet come back from dinner with Demetrios. Next morning I arose to find Exekestos seated upon a stool in front of his tent with his head in his hands. I said:
"Good day, sir."
The admiral groaned and looked up at me with bloodshot eyes. "You are a kakodaimon sent to haunt me for my sins," he said. "Go away."
"Why, sir—"
"Oh, never mind. Dear Herakles! I am not without experience of the world, yet in trying to keep up with these Macedonians in the drinking of wine neat, I am but a babe. Beware the Macedonian, Chares, especially when he proffers hospitality."
"A wild party, sir?"
"So it seemed to us, though to Demetrios and his fawning parasites I daresay it was as tame as barley broth. Imagine, mature and respectable men like us dancing a Cretan fling! And the women those Corinthiasts had in—but then, I must not shock your young ears. How went the sculptural session?"
When I told of Demetrios' remark about Salamis, Exekestos said: "Aha! We may have time to prepare our defense after all. How far have you gone?"
"Two more days should finish the task. Tomorrow I shall make a sketch in clay, and the next day take measurements and perhaps a life mask."
"Go to it, and keep your ears open and your mouth shut."
The next day I spent in modeling a sketch of the general's head in the round. Demetrios conferred for hours with his officers about pay, promotion, food, and equipment for his men. Trying to listen to the talk in hope of picking up something of value slowed my work, so that I had not finished my model when Demetrios departed.
At the tents Exekestos again asked how nearly done I was. I told him: "I should be finished late tomorrow. When will the embassy complete its mission?"
"Our meeting with Demetrios is planned for tomorrow morning. If all go as I expect, we shall be ready to leave at the end of the meeting."
Next morning the hunchback ushered me into the andron that Demetrios used as his office. As I stepped into the room, there was a sharp sound. Something struck me a heavy blow on the forehead.
Demetrios and Apollonios crouched on the other side of the room behind the model of the latter's new catapult. The general was rocking and holding his sides with mirth, throwing back his head and opening wide his mouth to emit loud, braying laughs.
I had left a bucket of water clay in the room, with damp cloths over the bucket to keep the clay from drying out. Demetrios had scooped out a fistful of clay, molded it into a ball, and laid an ambush for me.
With the best grace I could muster, I peeled the flattened lump of clay off my face and got to work, while Demetrios dictated letters. Presently the hunchback appeared.
"My lord!" he said. "The Rhodians are here."
"Tell them to wait, Evagoras," said Demetrios. "I must dress to receive them."
The general went out. After a long interval he returned in his diplomatic robes. A gorgeous sight he was, from the headband spangled with gold down to the purple felt boots decorated with patterns in gold thread. He always had a weakness for fancy dress, and now he had outdone himself.
While I quietly put the finishing touches on the model, the embassy was presented.
"Well, my good men," said Demetrios, "the reason I have summoned you is this. The bearing of Ptolemaios towards my father has become intolerable. He has invaded Kilikia by sea, and, although I drove his force from those parts, he committed much damage, which he refuses to pay for. He oppresses our friends, both Phoenician and Greek, in Cyprus, who bear the tyranny of his brother Menelaos. With the cruel Kasandros and the grim Lysimachos he plots our overthrow.
"We have sent him a final demand, which he has rejected. The sword being thus forced into our hand, honor demands that we sheathe it not until justice has been done. I am now on my way to do battle with Menelaos.
"Placed as you Rhodians are off the coast of Anatolia, you must know that your interests are closely linked with ours. What affects the satrapy of Antigonos affects you. It is therefore only right that you, who enjoy the security bought by our hard-fought victories, shall undertake your proper share of the toil and the risk. As the virtue, the courage, and the justice of Rhodians are known throughout the civilized world, I need not belabor the point. Nay more, your own sense of duty will point out to you the only path you can decently follow."
"And what is that, sir?" said Exekestos.
"Why, to join us in our war against the corrupt and decadent tyrant of the Delta—against him who sits, like a fat spider in the center of his web, safe in Egypt while sending forth his armies to fight and his agents to bribe and intrigue. How say you? Ten ships—the number you sent six years ago with my father to the first liberation of Hellas— would do."
Exekestos replied: "You forget, O Demetrios, that Rhodes has a treaty of amity with the Ptolemaios, who has ever been our friend. The honor whereof you spoke forbids us to attack him. We shall be glad to have the friendship of the great Antigonos and his valiant son, but not at the cost of our ties with Egypt."
While they argued, I put the finishing touches on the sketch. They talked for an hour, sent for wine, and talked for another hour. They cited precedents and claims going back to the siege of Troy. As the discussion ground on, Demetrios ever became more demanding and haughty. When it transpired that the Rhodians would not retreat a digit from their stand, Demetrios stood up and said:
"Then go your ways, dog-faced little Rhodians. I have neither the time for fruitless haggling nor the meekness to beg for that which I may demand.. But think not that your refusal will be forgotten."
The embassy bowed itself out. The general turned to me. "Are you done yet, little man?"
I said: "I have finished my clay sketch, sir. Now I must take measurements."
"So? Let us be at it then." Demetrios pulled off his robe and shirt and stood naked before us.
Kavaros and I began measuring him with tape and calipers while I noted the figures on my tablet. Certainly Demetrios was a splendidly developed man, though no god; neither golden thigh nor unwinking gaze had he, nor did he glide through the air instead of walking.
When we had finished, I stepped back to see if I had overlooked anything. Demetrios was staring at me with a significant look in his eye. He said to Kavaros:
"Leave us, slave."
The Kelt looked a question at me. I said: "You may go, Kavaros. Wait outside."
Kavaros went. Demetrios led me to a couch.
"Sit, Rhodian," he said, drawing me down. "How would you like to work for me? I can find a useful post for a beautiful youth like you, especially if he show true friendship towards his general."
"But, sir, my first loyalty must be to my city!"
"Oh, take it not so much to heart. The day of these little self-governing city-states is done, though they know it not. This is the age of empire, when an able man who fears not to risk all on one throw may win the rule of the world! Were it not well to be the friend of such a man?"
"But, my lord—"
"Besides, the high and mighty line that your city is taking may well result in its utter destruction, like that of Tyre. You would not go down to the shades with your stiff-necked fools of countrymen, now would you?"
As he spoke, Demetrios caressed me. Despite his faults, which were many and grave, there was something wonderfully attractive about him; he could radiate charm even when sitting perfectly still.