Free Alexander: Child of a Dream by Valerio Massimo Manfredi Page A

silver.
On completion of the formalities the guests were invited into the adjacent chamber where they sat on comfortable divans for discussion of the agreement that was on the day’s agenda. Alexander was allowed in as well, because Philip wanted him to begin to have an idea of the responsibilities of a man of government and how a relationship with a foreign power should be managed.
The negotiation regarded a quasi-protectorate Philip wanted to exercise over the Greek cities of Asia, with continued formal recognition of Persian sovereignty over the region. The Persians, on their part, were worried about Philip’s advance towards the Straits, pivotal point between two continents and confluence of three great territories: Asia Minor, Asia true and proper, and Europe.
Philip tried to present his case without creating too much alarm among the delegation: ‘I have no interest in disturbing the peace of the area around the Straits. My only objective is to consolidate Macedonian hegemony between the Adriatic Gulf and the western coast of the Black Sea, something which will certainly bring stability to the Bosphorus, a throughway for traffic and trade that is clearly vital for all of us.’
He gave the interpreter time to translate and watched the expressions on his guests’ faces as one by one his words passed from Greek to Persian.
Arsames displayed no emotive reaction. He turned to Philip and looked him in the eye as though they both spoke the same language and said: ‘The problem that the Great King would like to solve regards your relationship with the Greeks of Asia and with certain Greek dynasties on the eastern shores of the Aegean. We have always favoured the independence of these peoples and we have always wanted the Greek cities to be governed by the Greeks … they are our friends, you understand. It is our opinion that such independence is a wise solution on
the one hand it respects their traditions and their dignity, while on the other it protects both their interests and ours. Unfortunately,’ he began again after having waited for the interpreter to finish, ‘we are dealing with a border area that has always been a source of friction and bitter conflict or even full-blown war.’
     
The discussions were beginning to touch on more difficult points and Philip, in order to lighten the atmosphere somewhat, nodded to the master of ceremonies Some extremely good-looking young people were brought in male
and female, all of them scantily clad They proceeded to serve sweets and spiced wine cut with snow from Mount Bermion, snow which had been kept in jars in the royal cellar The silver cups were covered with a light frosting which gave the metal a sort of opaque patina and transmitted to the eye, before the hand, a pleasant sense of coolness The King let the foreigners help themselves before picking up where they had left off
‘I know exactly what you mean, my Illustrious Guest I realize that in the past there have been many bloody wars between the Greeks and the Persians without there ever having been any definitive solution But I would like to remind you that my country and my ancestors, our kings, have always worked as mediators, and I therefore beg you to tell the Great King that our friendship with the Greek states of Asia is simply the result of an awareness of our common origins, of our mutual religion and the ancient bonds of hospitality and family relations
Arsames listened with the same sphinx like expression, the make up around his eyes lending him a strange statuesque immobility, and Alexander, from his vantage point, watched the guest and his father trying to understand what it was exactly that the other was hiding behind the screen of perfunctory words
‘I do not deny,’ Philip began again after a short while, ‘that we are very much interested in trade with those cities, and we have even more interest in their considerable experience in all fields of knowledge We want to learn how to build, to