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

navigate, to control the flows of the waters of our land
The Persian, strangely, spoke before the interpreter had finished, ‘And what can you offer in exchange?’
Philip hid his surprise ably, waited for the translation of the question and, still imperturbable, replied ‘Friendship, gifts, and products that Macedon alone can provide the
wood of our forests, magnificent horses and strong slaves from the plains along the River Ister I simply want all the Greeks who live around our sea to look up to the King of Macedon as their natural friend No more than this ‘
The Persians seemed to be happy with what Philip was telling them and in any case they realized that even if he was lying, the simple truth was that right now he could not afford to start any aggressive projects and that fact was enough, for the moment
As they left the chamber to go into the banqueting hall, Alexander moved closer to his father and whispered ‘How much truth is there in what you told them?’
‘Almost none,’ replied Philip, coming out into the corridor
‘Which means that they too
‘They have not told me anything of any real substance ‘
‘Of what use are these meetings then?’
‘For sniffing each other out’
‘For sniffing each other out?’ asked Alexander
‘Exactly A real politician has no need of words, he places more trust in his nose For example, do you think he prefers girls or boys”
‘Who’
‘Our guest, obviously’
‘Well I really wouldn’t know ‘
‘He likes boys He gave the impression he was watching the girls, but out of the corner of his eye he was watching that blond boy serving the iced wine I’ll tell the master of ceremonies to make sure the Satrap finds him in his bed The boy comes from Bythnia and speaks Persian Perhaps in this way we’ll find out more about our guest’s true thoughts After the banquet you can act as guide and show them the palace and the grounds ‘
Alexander nodded and when the time came he willingly earned out his task He had read a lot about the Persian empire, he knew the Education of Cyrus by the Athenian Xenophon almost by heart He had also read Ctesias’ Persika, a historical work which was full of imaginative exaggeration, but nevertheless
     
interesting because of its notes on customs and landscape. This, however, was the first ever occasion on which Alexander had had the opportunity to talk to real flesh-and-blood Persians.
He was accompanied by an interpreter and showed the guests the palace and the apartments of the young nobles, where he made a mental note to make sure he tore a strip off Lysimachus because his bed had not been made properly. He explained that the offspring of the Macedonian aristocracy were educated at court together with himself.
Arsames commented that the same practice existed in their capital, Susa. In this way the King not only ensured the loyalty of the tribal chiefs, but he simultaneously reared an entire generation of noblemen who were closely bonded with the throne.
Alexander showed them the stables of the chargers of the Hetairoi, the aristocrats who served in the cavalry and who indeed bore the tide, ‘Companions of the King’. Together they watched the training of some superb Thessalian horses. ‘Magnificent animals,’ commented one of the dignitaries. ‘Do you have such beautiful horses?’ asked Alexander, somewhat ingenuously.
The dignitary smiled. ‘Have you never heard, Prince, of the Nysaean steeds?’
Alexander, embarrassed, shook his head. ‘They are animals of incredible beauty and power which are allowed to graze only on the highlands of Media; the grass that grows there is extremely rich in nutritional properties and is called medica. The flowers, purple in colour, are the richest part of the plant and the Emperor’s horse is fed exclusively on medica flowers, gathered one by one by his stable lads, served fresh in spring and summer and dried during autumn and winter.’
Alexander, charmed by this story, tried to imagine what a