Themistocles sputtered. ‘Poseidon’s rage! Are you all friends of the Medes? You — the famous warrior, the hero of Marathon?’
I laughed — Themistocles was easy to dislike. Cimon, like a gentleman, immediately appreciated that guest friendship overran any thoughts of ransom. Themistocles couldn’t see beyond the advantage it would have brought to have Artapherenes.
I shrugged. ‘You know I was a slave in Ephesus. Yes? Arta-pherenes. .’ I smiled ‘. . was instrumental in my freedom,’ I said carefully. No lie there — just a carefully nuanced truth. I shrugged. ‘Later, he saved my life. And the life of many people close to me.’
Themistocles shook his head. ‘You have fought the Medes on many fields,’ he said.
I smiled. ‘And I count many of them among my friends, Themistocles. Almost as many as I have friends in Athens. Of the two, I feel the Persians are the more honest.’
‘So despite all your fine words, you will support the aristocrats,’ he said.
I looked at both of them. Talking about politics to Athenians is exactly like managing the helm of a trireme in heavy seas. ‘No,’ I said, right at him. ‘I don’t think that I will. But neither am I interested in a war for the emerging empire of Athens, Themistocles. This much I’ll tell you both. The Great King is determined on war. He is building his fleets and his armies and his targets are Athens and Sparta.’
Cimon shook his head vehemently. ‘No! If we send him tokens of submission — if we offer a small tribute-’
I had to take a step back to get his attention. ‘No, Cimon. Don’t delude yourself. The Great King is coming. It will not be next year — but it will be soon. Two years at the earliest, is what my friends say. Do you know that he’s building a canal through the isthmus of Athos? Do you know that he’s raising a fleet from the Ionian cities? Do you know that he has promised two great satrapies in Europe? And one of those to Mardonias, or that’s what I heard.’ I shook my head. ‘Cimon — you know what it is to decide on a voyage. You know how long it takes to gather your oarsmen, to get enough amphorae to ballast your ship in clay and fresh water, to lay in the sand, to gather salt pork, to find the right braziers and replace the broken oars-’
He held up a hand to indicate that he did, and my rhetorical device could be brought to an end.
‘Think about a fleet of a thousand galleys and a quarter of a million oarsmen and marines. Think of an army of half a million soldiers. How long would it take to gather the supplies and scout the roads? And once you have started — once you have spent the money and told your friends you are going. .’ I paused and took a breath. ‘Do you imagine that he’ll just stop because you offer a tribute?’
Cimon took a breath. ‘And you spoke to him in person?’ he said.
I nodded.
‘And Briseis, of course,’ he said, admitting to himself that I knew what I was saying.
‘She said so, too. She would know.’ I shrugged.
Themistocles looked at me suspiciously. ‘You can’t have convinced the eupatridae in one sentence,’ he said. ‘You are mocking me.’
Cimon was frowning. ‘Themistocles — do you think it is possible for honest men to disagree?’
Themistocles thought for a long time, looking for a trap. ‘Yes,’ he admitted.
‘I’m not pleased by what the Plataean has to say — but I have to believe it. I do not love your. . your democracy, Themistocles. But if Athens must fight for her life. .’ He shrugged. ‘If there is no hope of reconciliation with Persia. .’
‘Your father helped create this war,’ Themistocles said.
Cimon nodded. ‘That’s true. And because I know it to be true, I know it can be mended.’
Themistocles looked at me. ‘What side will you choose, Plataean?’ he asked.
I confess that I laughed. ‘I’ll be on the Plataean side, of course,’ I said.
Themistocles stalked off soon after. Even though I could see that Cimon’s mind was changing, Themistocles was such a domineering bastard that he wanted Cimon’s absolute agreement — his slavish obedience.
In my observation, demagogues are the harshest tyrants. And you’ll see how this comes out, if you stick with me.
I never liked Themistocles. He was too keen on his own power, and he made it a little too obvious to the rest of us that he was smarter than we and felt that we should leave him in peace to decide our futures — for our own good. I really, truly believe that’s what he thought, in his heart.
Now, let me confess something to you, my daughter. He was smarter than almost anyone. He alone saw all the ramifications of building a mighty fleet for Athens, and he remained true to them. Other men made compromises — Themistocles was above such stuff. But in the world of mortals, there are no absolute answers, and so, when Themistocles became the saviour of all Greece, he had already planted the seeds of treason.
Hah! Aeschylus might yet write a play. It has all the great themes, does it not?
It is one of the little tricks of the gods that, as soon as a man takes part in some great moment, discussing the affairs of all Greece or considering ethics or philosophy, in the next moment he either has to deal with an angry child, an intestinal ailment, or a bureaucracy. Or perhaps all three at the same time. Just when you feel your most godlike, someone will come along to remind you that you really live in a Cratinus play, not an Aeschylus.
The evening began well, with Paramanos and Harpagos and Moire and some of my other friends and former associates in piracy joining us for wine. It had only been a few weeks since we had raided Illyria, and we were all rich and full of ourselves — which, I can tell you, makes for a fine symposium. We had couches of straw laid out, and the slaves and my oarsmen built us a fine fire of wood they collected high on the slopes — I remember Leukas complaining about how far the men had to go to get wood. Truly, with twenty thousand people on the plain, wood was hard to find.
And the place stank — have I mentioned that? Humans are not the cleanest of animals. I had Megakles pace off our camp and we dug latrines. Most other people didn’t. If you catch my drift.
At any rate, I was just reclining on my elbow, with Hector pouring me some wine mixed three to one with water, while Harpagos was telling of our heroism at Lades. There must have been fifty men at our fire, and a few women — drawn not so much by my famous name as by the promise of free wine.
Out of the sunset came Polymarchos, like the proverbial ghost at the wedding.
He crouched by my pallet like a slave waiting on his patron. I could tell it annoyed him to be so subservient, and thus I could tell he needed something.
Power has many difficult aspects.
‘Relax,’ I said. ‘What’s the trouble?’
He shook his head. ‘They’re threatening to disqualify my athlete. You know he’s late?’
I nodded. Like any Greek, I knew that athletes had to be present thirty days before their event, to train — very hard. In effect, to prove that they had the right to compete. Young Astylos was only four days early. I shrugged. ‘He was shipwrecked,’ I mentioned.
Polymarchos hung his head. ‘Would you consider. . speaking to the judges?’ he asked.
I misunderstood. ‘I can speak about the storm, surely.’
He met my eye. ‘I suspect they’ve been bribed.’ He looked around. ‘There’re other men here who came late, and there have been many men admitted late over the years.’
Cimon, at my elbow, leaned in. ‘Bribed is such a strong word,’ he said with a smile. ‘You mean that someone has an interest — perhaps a political interest — in strict enforcement.’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘What events are we discussing?’
Polymarchos looked annoyed to be interrupted, but he shrugged it off. ‘Stadion and diaulos,’ he said.
Cimon nodded. ‘Athenians in both events,’ he said.
Let me tell you how the world works.
In that one line, Cimon was saying that he — he, one of the most powerful men in Athens — had an interest in the two running events. It was all in the twist of his mouth, the light of his eye. But it was there.