Reaching the edge of the cleared space, Aristodemos dismounted, handed the reins to one of his questioners, and walked slowly across the area toward the satrap. His face was grave and composed. The questioners fell back.
When he was within a quarter-plethron, Aristodemos halted, raised his hands, and cried: "Rejoice, King Antigonos! We have defeated the Ptolemaios by sea and. have taken Cyprus and sixteen thousand eight hundred prisoners, including a son and a brother of Ptolemaios!"
The old man swayed. There was a scurry among his guards to find a chair for him, but the satrap waved them back.
I started at the word "king," and so, I fancy, did others who were not in on the plot. The Macedonian officers, however, set up a cry of "Hail, King Antigonos! Hail, King Antigonos!" The soldiers took it up, too, until the hillsides rang with roars of "Hail, King Antigonos!"
We non-Macedonians exchanged looks of surprise, alarm, and displeasure. But, like most of the others, I joined in the acclamations.
Two officers stepped up to Antigonos with a slender golden diadem, which they set on his bald head. The satrap made motions to show how much all this astonished him. The noise died down.
Antigonos took off the diadem and held it in his fingers, turning it this way and that. He spoke:
"I thank you, Macedonians. For too long has the empire of the divine Alexander drifted without a proper king at its head. As the house of Philip son of Amyntas has, alas, come to an end, the Macedonian army is the only body in the world that can choose a successor to fill this void. Perhaps I fill it a little too fully"—he grinned and slapped his paunch—"but I swear by Zeus and all the gods and goddesses to do my duty by you and by the empire; I, and my son Demetrios, who by your leave shall be co-ruler with me. For, as any fool can see, I am not so young as once I was, and I need his help. To him I shall send a diadem like this one, as token of his royal rank. Now there shall be feasting and fun for three days, no more drill during that time, and an extra month's pay for everybody. Rejoice, one and all!"
The soldiers cheered again. Aristodemos stepped up with a crafty smile. One could see that he was looking for a handsome tip for having brought the news; his fingers practically twitched. He said:
"I hailed you first, Great King."
"So you did," said Antigonos, grinning. "You are welcome, O Aristodemos. But as you saw fit to torture me with so long a wait for your good news, you may wait a while yourself for the reward of it."
Aristodemos' face fell before they were swallowed up in the cheering crowd. I did no more work on my portrait head that day.
At the feast that night I sat between Apelles and Hieronymos of Kardia. While Apelles was his serene old self, Hieronymos was in a dour and dismal mood, staring listlessly at his food and drinking wine in great gulps, not with Hellenic moderation.
"What ails you, my friend?" I asked him, leaning close to be heard above the uproar of the drunken Macedonians. "This is supposed to be a celebration."
"What have I to celebrate?" snarled the historian.
"The accession of your great king."
"Stupid ox! It is I who was supposed to hail old One-eye as king. But that ready-for-aught Aristodemos got wind of the plan and forestalled me. The king would have rewarded me. Now he must recompense Aristodemos to make the event appear spontaneous."
"Do you mean the whole thing was planned?"
"Are you so simple as to believe otherwise? We rehearsed it carefully. The Antigonos himself selected me as the one to hail him."
Apelles leaned around me and asked: "Why should the satr—the king have chosen one who is not a Macedonian?"
"Because," said Hieronymos, "had he elected one of his Macedonian officers, that would have incited one more murderous feud amongst them. Those not picked would have cherished a grudge against the fortunate man."
Apelles smiled. "Nice people. Aren't you ashamed, as a citizen of a free republican city, to promote one more oriental tyranny?"
"Don't prate to me of freedom!" snapped Hieronymos.
"Kardia has been under Lysimachos' thumb for years, with no more freedom than he allows us. This free-city ideal is but a transitory phase, anyway. Soon they will all be swallowed up in the great kingdoms and empires that are forming."
"Not Rhodes!" I cried, smiting the table.
"Yes, pretty little Rhodes as well. What does this freedom of yours signify, anyway, but the freedom of your ruling class to amass more and more wealth by dealings With Ptolemaios? Naturally they do not wish their produce cart upset. But the remainder of you would be better off under Antigonos. Now, there is a real king for you! If you don't think so, inquire of the countrymen hereabouts how they like his rule."
"Never! We will resist to the last man, as the Tyrians did against Alexander."
"Go ahead and see how much good it does you. When your corpses have been decently interred, the conqueror will bring in people from other regions of his realm to take your places."
Apelies: "O Hieronymos, it is all very well to hail the Antigonos as ruler of Alexander's empire, but there is much of it that he doesn't rule and isn't likely to. What will the other satraps do? I cannot imagine their acquiescing to my lord's claim without a murmur."
Hieronymos shrugged. "I suppose they, too, will assume the title of king and fight it out as they have long been doing. At any rate, there should be ample employment in the foreseeable future for men possessing special skills in war and politics. Among whom I—ahem—dare count myself. The thought quite cheers me up."
The historian attacked his plate with gusto, whilst I sat dourly, saying little and thinking much.
While I put the finishing touches on the clay head of Antigonos, the king gave ear with ill-concealed impatience to a long and high-minded speech from President Damoteles on peace, justice, and international friendship. At last Antigonos struck the ground with his stick.
"Enough!" he growled. "You speak of peace, but the only folk who have ever had peace for the asking are those so strong that none dares molest them. You speak of justice, but there is no justice as between states, nor has there ever been. Justice means laws and courts and punishments, and where are the laws that rule states, the courts that try them, and the punishments inflicted on them? The gods, you may say, but if so they have been remiss. Otherwise, relations among states are governed by nought but force and guile.
Our friendship you may have, but on our terms—namely, that you join us against the satrap of Egypt, who rebels against our lawful authority as ruler of Alexander's empire, duly elected by the one body with the right and power to do so: the Macedonian army."
It occurred to me that Antigonos' talk of the "Macedonian army" was but pretense to give a veneer of legality to his assumption of the kingship. He did not have the whole Macedonian army. He had but a fraction of it, padded out with native levies and Greek mercenaries, as did each of the other Successors. As there was no way of assembling the whole Macedonian army, there was no legal way of choosing a true and lawful successor to the divine Alexander—if the rule of such a conqueror be considered legal in the first place. The king continued:
"Well, gentlemen, there it is. How say you? Yes or no?"
"Great King," began Damoteles, "let me explain our position—"
"To the afterworld with you!" bellowed Antigonos. "You mean 'no,' but you hope by wrapping your refusal in a cocoon of sophistical quibbles to talk me round. Well, it is too hot for such games. 'No' it is, and 'no' it shall be, and you may go home to await the reward of your defiance. You are the authors of an unjust war between us, and so your blood shall be on your own heads. Get out of my sight, all of you!" He turned his terrible eye on me. "Are you done yet, boy? Good! Get along with your countrymen. When I have taken your city, I shall look for the statue. If it turn out well, I shall order that you be spared."