Alexander: Child of a Dream Read Online Free PDF Page B

pulse at his neck.
‘What are you doing?’ he asked.
‘I am checking the speed of your father’s heartbeat.’
‘And what is it that moves the heart?’
‘Vital energy.’
‘And where is this vital energy?’
Nicomachus looked in the boy’s eyes and read there an insatiable hunger for knowledge, a wonderful intensity of feeling. He brushed the boy’s cheek with his finger while Philip intent
and fascinated by the scene watched
on.
‘Ah! No one knows the answer to that one,’ said Nicomachus.
Philip was soon back on his feet and engaged in the business of government with his energies fully restored, disappointing those who had even gone so far as to suggest that he had died.
Alexander was not pleased because this meant he no longer saw his father so often, but it meant he became interested in getting to know other youngsters some
his age, others a little older the
children of Macedonian nobles who frequented the court and lived in the palace in accordance with the King’s specific wishes. For Philip this was a way of keeping the kingdom united, of binding together the most powerful families, with all the tribal and factional chiefs under one roof -the King’s.
Some of these youngsters also attended Leonidas’ lessons -Perdiccas, Lysimachus, Seleucus, Leonnatus and Philotas, General Parmenion’s son. Others, who were older, such as Ptolemy and Craterus, already bore the title ‘Page’ and were directly dependent on the King for their education and their training.
Seleucus at this stage in his life was quite small and thin, but Leonidas liked him because he was good at his schoolwork. He was particularly well versed in history and mathematics and for his age was surprisingly wise and well balanced. He could do complicated sums in increasingly shorter times and he enjoyed competing with his companions, often besting them.
His dark, deep eyes lent him a penetrating look and his unkempt hair was a sign of a strong and independent, though never rebellious character. During lessons he was often keen to get himself noticed for his remarks, but he never tried to
     
ingratiate himself with his teacher and neither did he do anything to charm or flatter his superiors.
Lysimachus and Leonnatus were the most undisciplined because they came from the interior and had grown up free out in the woods and the prairies, taking the horses out to graze and spending much of their time outdoors. Living cooped up within four walls was like life in prison for them.
Lysimachus, who was a little older, was quicker in adapting to this new life while Leonnatus, who was only seven, looked like a little wolf because of his rough appearance, his red hair and the freckles over his nose and around his eyes. When punished he reacted by kicking and biting, and Leonidas tried taming him by making him go hungry and locking him up while the others were playing; he even made ample use of his willow cane. But Leonnatus had his own form of revenge in that every time he saw the teacher appear at the end of a corridor he would shout out a rhyme at the top of his voice:
Ek kori kori korone! Ek kori kori korone!
‘Here he is, here’s the old crow!’ and all the others would join in, including Alexander, until poor Leonidas went red with rage and lost his temper, chasing them and brandishing his cane above his head.
When he fought with his companions, Leonnatus simply had no concept of the idea of losing and he even came to blows with those bigger than him, the result being that he was always covered in bruises and scratches, almost always unpresentable on official occasions or at court ceremonies. This was quite the opposite of Perdiccas, who of the group was the most conscientious, always present both in class and on the games and training fields. He was only a year older than Alexander and, together with Philotas, they often played the same games.
‘When I grow up I’m going to be a general like your father,’ Perdiccas used to say to Philotas, who