Like this? Whole year burns and does not go out? Interesting. Well, we cant think about anything after Taiss dances, went and found some girlfriends.
Okay, I sleep, Ptolemy, Nearhar said, yawning, and went to his room, but could not fall asleep at once, recalled the words of Callia, but fortunately, the fatigue took its toll.
The sun rose again above the beautiful Athens, and the rays fell on houses and streets, and the statue of Athia Promachos again shone from the light of Helios. All stood up and ate, and gathered in the gymnasium, as the servant came with a letter from Thais for Alexander.
The prince broke the wax on the papyrus scroll, and read the writing.
What is it, Alexander? Hephaestion asked impatiently.
Fine Tais invites me to his place, the young man replied with a constant smile, I will go, of course, you can not refuse a beautiful girl,
Take security with you, asked Ptolemy,
This is unworthy, not to trust such a lovely girl, no, my caring Ptolemy, he said scornfully. Ill go alone.
And, putting on a spacious cloak on the chiton and Macedonian felt hat, fastening the dagger to the belt, went to visit, accompanied by servant Thais.
The eters were waiting impatiently for the prince day and night, and Alexander came only in the morning.
Oh, finally, Alexander, cried Hephaestion. You are back!
Yes, Thais is unique, beautiful, like a rose, said the prince dreamily, She invites you all to the evening, there will be philosophers and poets and artists. I gave her money for all this, do not worry. Friends washed and cleaned the whole morning, and Demad smiled all the time, looking at them.
Young, young.. Of course, she is not Phryne or Aspasia, but society is going to be interesting, the archon chuckled. Go, it will be unforgettable.
All went out washed, combed, dressed in all the best accompanied by squires. Alexander himself led the retinue, and his page carried a bundle and a bag of gifts to hetero, the road did not take much time, the aged slave who had awaited them opened the gate for them, as elsewhere, just like vede servants were taken to a human, symposium was in the garden where everyone met beautiful mistress. Nine guests went to the garden, where twelve beautiful flutist girls, girlfriends and friends of the hostess were waiting for them, so that no one was overlooked, and sat and waited for the Macedonians Onesekrit and the famous Lysippus and poet Lincay, famous for following the ideals of Arstrathrat, famous for its Sweet Life. The maids began to bring food to the tables, and the charming hostess introduced the guests.
This is sculptor Lysippus, presented to Tais,
It is a disciple of Diogenes Onesikrit, that he nodded his head to the rest,
And this is the passionate follower of Archestrata, the poet Linkay from Samosa, the great Homer of the fish, the Arktin wine and the Hesiod of other hors doeuvres.
But unlike Arhestrata, I dedicate my elegies to tuna, not shark, and of course, the sturgeon laughed at the samoецc.
And this is Alexander, the son of Philip, and with him his friends Hephaestion, Ptolemy, Filota, Cassander, Garpal, Eumenes, Nearh, and Leonnat.
She led the guests to the boxes, put the high chair next to Alexanders place, beautiful, in her best silk dress, opening her neck and hands, adorned with a gold necklace and beautiful earrings, suddenly clapped her hands,
To make this place pleasant, it needs charming music, she said with an expression, and in a garden full of guests, twelve beautiful nymphs walked in a charming walk, in knee-length dresses, with flutes, and went around the guests, choosing sit down, and each chose the interlocutor to his liking. Hephaestiona chose a miniature black-haired charm Nano, Ptolemy started serving Bittida wine, Agriopa sat down to Harpalo, Leonty put a treat to Filote, served Cassandra Feanos little table, beat the pillow to Néarhu, light-haired Egoy, Leonnata fed the hut, and I went to the hut. Laidas charms, and Clay became the source of inspiration and model for Lysippos, Filia became a model of virtue of Onisicritus, and the mistress of the house became the caretaker for Alexander.
Let us drink for the beautiful hostess of the house, the prince proclaimed, which was supported by the guests who cast a bit of wine for the gods, and Tais tode drank the wine from her cup, without taking his eyes off Alexander, who was completely happy in his circle people who love him. He put on a wreath of flowers, and lightly stroking the hair of the hetaera, lightly sank over the lips of her cheek,
A wonderful holiday, beautiful people, Thais, and again she kissed her, and she smiled happily.
Alexander, I would like to create your statue, or at least a bust, said Lysippos,
Only maybe, not now, Lysippos, said Linkey, with a laugh, a couple more bowls, and Alexander can make a beauty like Socrates (was ugly),
To which everyone laughed, the prince laughed in the same way, and Thais patted his blond curls. Eoya chirped to Noarch something about the weather, and he, in order not to be ignorant of ignorance, also put a piece of shark and bread in her plate, and poured wine from the jug, more and more penetrating the tenderness of this beautiful girl. The face of this hetera was also beautiful, with a snub nose, big lips, and a face covered with freckles. She was also very well formed, maybe her chiton was too transparent, not concealing anything, but the fragrant oils were pleasant, and the girls society pleased him, and as he looked around, his friends also got along with their girlfriends.
The treat is great! Linkey spoke loudly, thank you for calling on such an exquisite meal, gastronomy is great, and having treated us with fish from Meotida, you revealed to us the secret of Achilles, so he owed him his strength, Iphigenia for his kindness, and Gella for beauty.
And why, Linkey, everybody exclaimed.
I will sing an ode to the sturgeon, adhering from the bed and supported by Laida, who, because of her zeal to keep the co-worker, the chiton fell from the right shoulder revealing a pretty girl figure, but after several cups of excellent wine the poet still tried to read:
Ode to sturgeon
Only in the Northern depths, floating, huge
Similar to a sea horse and almost as big as a Dionysus dolphin
But the taste of meat is so pleasant
What if God tasted it, I would have forgotten my beloved Nisa.
When the poet finished his cyclic work, the response was the stormy applause of the guests, and Laida kissed him gently, and Thais gave him a wreath, as the victorious narrator.
The evening was great, but Lysippus could not resist and begged papyrus from Thais, and with a lead pencil he made sketches for Alexanders bust, and the prince asked him to make a bust and Thais, and she reddened with pleasure. Nearhs no longer paid attention to others, he was completely distracted by Eoya, only saw how pleased the giant Hephaestion Nano was. The sun had already begun to set, it had become much cooler, and the friends decided that it was better to leave Alexander and Thais, and they began to leave with their friends, who took shelter in their cloaks, hiding their true coolness. Kuret saw the charmer enthrall their admirers through the narrow streets of Athens under the roofs of their houses, and he was also taken to see the beauty of the city by a friend, given to him by the will of fate, or rather by the craft of Tais and Alexander.
Nearh woke up in a beautiful little garden in a small house, snuffled next to him, putting her hand under Eoyas head, beautiful in her nakedness, and tried to cover herself with a fallen blanket in a dream, and also opened her eyes and immediately attracted him to her, so temporarily walked home, but soon Nearkh began to aspire, and having kissed the girl goodbye, he left the purse with the gifts. He left the house, accompanied by a new acquaintance, and at the gates Teres, who was waiting for him at midnight, was sad and cold.
Hello, master, -promatmatal half-asleep squire,
Not master, but Nearh, how much to tell you, corrected him smoking, We went to Demad.
To the archons house, the Eters with servants slowly began to gather, and they began to gather, it was time to leave the hospitable Athens. By noon, the retinue assembled fully, and the horse began to be advanced to the city gates, led by Demad. At the gate, they warmly said goodbye, and quickly jumped into the camp of the cavalry mud to return home together, and then the news came that Philip Argeada was recognized as the hegemon of Greece in Corinth, all the cities of Istma and Peloponnese except Sparta, remembered that the dynasty of Argead originates from the kings of Argos and Mycenae, as well as the old hatred of Argos to Thebes since the campaign of the Seven Against Thebes. And about that, the joint union of the Greeks is going to go to war with Persia, which would liberate the Greeks of Asia Minor.In the same way, Alexander and his retinue moved to Pella, and remained in the capital, to wait for Philipe. Glory Alexander, as the future king, was indisputable among the warriors, and going out and at home of his ancestors, the prince heard the blessings of the warriors, the aphids of their wives, whom he healed from his wounds. One day, Alexander came out of his chambers, met his mother.
Good morning son. I want to talk to you, she said, lets go to your room,
And they went into his chambers, and Alexander tensed, anticipating again a difficult conversation.
Listen, said the mother sitting opposite him, You have to marry, she looked at him with a smile and love, like a little one, To retain power, and the Macedonians saw that you are the real heir to the kingdom, marry a girl from good family, give birth to my grandson. And then, fight yourself as much as you want, otherwise your father decided to marry again, Attals daughter, Cleopatra. And if they have a son, you will be in danger. Or do you burn for the love of a girl from Athens? she smiled wryly.
And what does she have to do with it? The young man immediately began to defend himself, What did she bother you with, and immediately thought that her mother would not be so easily killed, Shes just a hetera.
Okay, the mother immediately calmed down, but we must get married, the bride, the Macedonian, I will pick you up, you want even from Linkestids.
She looked and waited, and he knew that he could get out of this conversation, only showing how she loved her, and remembered what had to be done.
Mom, I brought you a gift, he said as he left, and recalling the silk bought in Athens, he climbed into the chest, took out a bundle, and showed it to his mother.
This is for you, he whispered holding out the present, and mother was very pleased, and kissed her son warmly, and the son, pretending that he was very busy, hurriedly left.
In Macedonia, preparations were under way for a large-scale war; weapons were harvested, especially arrows for Cretan shooters, stocks of swords and spears for ordinary soldiers, forged armor, sewed flaxtoraxes, forged helmets. It was necessary to have a lot of things needed for the war and they arranged warehouses, and for food in Amphipolis, including stored grain for three years.
And then Philip did not disappoint the expectations of the Olympics; he was going to conclude a marriage alliance with Cleopatra, the daughter of Attalus. The girl was beautiful, so it easily won the heart of a devoted lover of female beauty. Before the wedding, Alexander with friends tried not to go to the palace, finding a variety of things for himself, just to not listen to the lamentations of his beloved mother. Soon the wedding day came, and of course, the prince had to attend the wedding. He did not want to push at the temple, so he and his friends, who were invited, waited in the hall where they were served refreshments, the lodges were set apart, the ceiling and walls were decorated with garlands of flowers. So the newlyweds came, and Attal and his relatives, as well as all the generals of Philip, followed them. Alexander sadly recalled Thais symposium, where he felt happy, and here only suffering awaited him, and then he waited for the mothers withering lamentations, which he could not soften.
You see, said Hephaestion, not everything is so bad. Decent people gathered, they served excellent food, and he put the princes meat of goat, stewed in milk. Alexander tried, and his mood began to gradually improve. Then they tasted a stuffed hare, lamb with spices, so the cook was proto great and would honor the Corinthians. The prince already looked at the celebration with different eyes, and of course he understood his father, but he loved his mother. They drank fine wines from Rhodes and Crete. Then the servants brought Persian sweets, and the young men became quite cheerful, and reprimanded themselves to think about the bad.
Nearby was his friend Hephaestion, which made his flour much easier. So the feast continued, the prince heard an exclamation for health, he himself said something immediately forgotten, and in oblivion sipped the wine from the cup, talking to Hephaestion about Athens. Suddenly, as in a dream, he heard Attals toast:
I hope this marriage will bring Macedonia a true heir, Attal said in an unsteady voice,
Shut up, he was immediately interrupted by Philip, who jumped up from the bed.
Alexander, having heard the words of the brides uncle, imprinted in the brain.
What am I, what is illegal? with these words he jumped up and threw a silver cup into Attalus.Philip, who rushed to his son, either to separate the quarreling, or to take his son out of the hall, stumbled with a wounded leg and fell, Alexander rushed out of the hall, and Hephaestion ran after him.
Hephaestion, prepare horses and a wagon for the mother, as well as summon my friends with the squires, the prince immediately asked a friend, and he rushed to immediately do what he wanted.
Alexander ran headlong into his mothers chambers, and saw that she, with her maids, was already collecting valuable things.
Mom, were leaving, he told his mother.
Yes. I heard my son, lets go to Epirus. (for some reason, the young man was not at all surprised) Everything will get better, I love you too, she said with a smile, wrapping her shawl, presented by her son. They descended, and already the cart was harnessed, and the servant sat on the trestle, and the armed men waited for Hephaestion with a squire, and rode from different parts of the city to all his friends Garpal, Nearh, Erygius and Ptolemy with their squires, a detachment of thirty mounted, and they hastily drove the Olympiad carriage to the gate, and there the guards, seeing Alexadra, easily released the fugitives, and they moved westward through the passes to Epir. Already it was evening, they moved all night for fear of pursuit. In a month they arrived in Epirus, home of the Olympics.
The king of Epirus himself, Alexander also, met the procession at the gates of the palace.