Alexander (Vol. 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

married?’
    ‘No. He has embarked on this invasion without leaving an heir to the throne of Macedon. It seems that before leaving he gave all his property away to his closest friends.’
    Barsine gestured to the handmaids to leave them and she personally attended to her husband as he left the bath. She took a cloth of soft Ionian linen and wrapped it round his shoulders to dry his back. Memnon continued to tell her what he knew of his enemy.
    ‘They say that one of these close friends asked him, “What are you keeping for yourself ?” and he replied, “Hope.” It’s not easy to believe, but it is obvious that the young King has already become legendary. This is a problem – it’s not easy to fight against a legend.’
    ‘Does he really not have a woman?’ asked Barsine.
    A handmaid brought a damp cloth and another one helped Memnon dress for supper – a long chiton, down to his feet, blue in colour and embroidered in silver around the edges.
    ‘Why are you so interested in him?’
    ‘Because women are always a man’s weak point.’
    Memnon took his wife’s arm and led her to the dining chamber, where the low tables were arranged in the Greek manner before the dining beds.
    He sat down and a maidservant poured him some more cool wine from a magnificent Corinthian crater, two hundred years old, which sat on the central table.
    Memnon indicated a tableau by Apelles hanging on the wall before them, depicting a highly erotic love scene between Ares, the god of war, and Aphrodite. ‘Do you remember when Apelles came here to paint this?’
    ‘Yes. I remember it well,’ replied Barsine, who always stretched out to eat with her back to the painting because she had never got used to the Greeks’ forwardness and the way they represented nudity.
    ‘And do you remember the model who posed with him as Aphrodite?’
    ‘Of course. She was stupendous – one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen, a worthy model for the goddess of love and beauty.’
    ‘She was Alexander’s Greek lover.’
    ‘Really?’
    ‘It’s true. Her name is Pancaspe and when she disrobed in front of Alexander for the first time he was so taken by her that he called Apelles to paint her in the nude. But then he realized that the painter had fallen in love with her – such things happen between artists and their models. Do you know what he did? He gave Pancaspe to Apelles in return for the painting. Alexander never lets himself be shackled to anything, not even to love, I’m afraid. I tell you, he’s a dangerous man.’
    Barsine looked him in the eyes, ‘And you? Have you let yourself be won over by love?’
    Memnon returned her gaze. ‘Love is the only opponent I accept defeat from.’
    Their sons arrived to say goodnight before retiring and they kissed both father and mother.
    ‘When can we come with you into battle, Father?’ the eldest asked.
    ‘There will be time,’ replied Memnon. ‘You must grow first.’ And then, when they had moved farther off, he added, lowering his head to his chest, ‘And you must decide which side you’re on.’
    Barsine remained silent for some time.
    ‘What are you thinking of ?’ her husband asked.
    ‘Of the next battle, of the dangers that lie waiting for you, of the anguish of waiting and looking out from the tower for some sign of the messenger who will bring me news of whether you’re dead or alive.’
    ‘This is my life, Barsine. I am a professional soldier.’
    ‘I know, but knowing it doesn’t help. When will it take place?’
    ‘The clash with Alexander? Soon, even although I am against it in principle. Very soon.’
    They finished supper with a sweet wine from Cyprus, then Memnon lifted his eyes to Apelles’s painting on the wall in front of him. The god Ares was depicted there without his weapons, which lay on the ground, on the grass, and the goddess Aphrodite was sitting alongside, naked, holding his head in her lap while his hands lay on her thighs.
    He turned to Barsine