Memnon (54 page)

H
ISTORICAL
N
OTE

 

C
ONJECTURE IS THE LIFEBLOOD OF THE HISTORICAL NOVEL, ESPECIALLY
one dealing with a figure of antiquity. In the broad narrative of human existence Memnon of Rhodes appears as a mere footnote in the life of King Alexander III of Macedonia. As such, there has been only small interest from scholars, a cursory examination into the life of this Greek-born Persian aristocrat, which has raised more questions than it has provided answers.

Memnon’s life is riddled with lacunae. We do not know, for instance, the names of his parents, or their social standing on the island of Rhodes. In extant sources he is never named by his patronymic, only by ‘the Rhodian’ or ‘of Rhodes.’ Timocrates of Rhodes is mentioned in Xenophon’s
Hellenica
[III.5.1] and in the anonymous (but enlightening)
Hellenica Oxyrhynchia
[7.5] and I have preserved his deeds as they were recorded—plus one more: I made him Memnon’s father due in large part to his association with the satrap Pharnabazus. Similarly, the name of Memnon’s sister, the wife of Artabazus, is lost to the ages. The episodes of his youth, including the death of his father and the circumstances of his flight from Rhodes, are entirely fictional.

There is some evidence that Memnon had a wife prior to his marriage to Barsine. Arrian, in the first book, section fifteen, of his
Campaigns of Alexander,
describes Memnon and his sons fighting in the van at the Granicus. But, because of a paucity of information I have chosen to overlook this previous wife and the children arising from the union. Instead, he fights at the Granicus with the sons of Artabazus.

In all the sources, much is made of Artabazus’s age and of the size of his family. According to Quintus Curtius Rufus, he was ninety-five years old in 330 BCE and had fathered twenty-four children—two by a Persian wife and another twenty-two ostensibly by Memnon’s sister (for no mention is made of other wives). Modern scholars like to dispute his age, saying ninety-five must surely be a mistranslation and fifty-five is probably closer to the mark. Still, I have chosen to follow Curtius Rufus’s lead in making Artabazus older.

One of the most tantalizing gaps in Memnon’s life is his exile to the court of Philip II of Macedonia. He vanishes from the historical record for a decade, which raises innumerable questions as to his dealings and movements during that period. How well did he come to know Alexander and the young men who would become Macedonia’s generals? Did he fight in Philip’s numerous border campaigns? Did he journey to Egypt and fight at his brother’s side? By his character we can extrapolate he was not idle, but exactly
what
he did is open to interpretation. As with Memnon’s youth, I have taken spectacular liberties, inventing associations and events for the sake of story. Hopefully, such highly fictitious scenes won’t be too difficult for readers to accept.

B
IBLIOGRAPHY

 

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A
PPENDIX
I:
A Chronology of Events

 

All dates are BCE (Before Common Era).

 

c.375	Memnon is born on the island of Rhodes.
371	Epaminondas and the Thebans defeat the Spartans at the Battle of Leuctra, ending Spartan supremacy in Greece.
370	Death of King Amyntas III of Macedonia, father of Philip. His eldest son, Perdiccas III, succeeds him.
369	Young Philip held hostage at Thebes to insure good relations with Macedonia.
367	Birth of Pharnabazus by the Persian wife of Artabazus. In Macedonia, Ptolemy (Alexander’s companion and the future king of Egypt) is born.
364	Barsine is born to the Persian wife of Artabazus. Her mother dies in childbirth.
362	Epaminondas is slain fighting the Spartans at Mantinea.
360	Artabazus marries Deidamia, the daughter of his lifelong friend Timocrates of Rhodes; Timocrates’ eldest son, Mentor, enters the satrap’s service that same year. Death of King Agesilaus of Sparta. In Macedonia, Philotas son of Parmenion is born.
359	In Macedonia, King Perdiccas III is slain in battle; his younger brother, Philip, ascends the throne as King Philip II; late in the year, Kassandros son of Antipatros is born.
358	Death of King Artaxerxes II. His son, Ochus, becomes King Artaxerxes III. He orders his western satraps to disband their private armies; orders Artabazus to present himself before the throne at Susa. Artabazus refuses, goes into open rebellion. In the Aegean, Mausolus of Caria sparks the Social War by convincing Cos, Chios, and Byzantion to leave the Athenian Confederation. The Athenians respond by dispatching a fleet of sixty triremes under Chares and Chabrias.
357	Rhodes joins the rebellion against Athens; Timocrates of Rhodes is slain in factional fighting. His son, Memnon, joins Artabazus’s rebellion at Assos. The Athenian fleet is destroyed off Embata by the combined forces of Cos and Chios. Chabrias is slain and Chares limps away to Imbros. In Asia, Mithridates of Dascylium is ordered to subdue Artabazus. Philip of Macedon marries Olympias, a princess of Epiros.
356	Artabazus rescues Chares and the Athenians from Imbros; he hires them to form the core of his mercenary army. The satrap also secures the services of a band of Boeotian mercenaries led by Pammenes. In Macedonia, Alexander is born to Philip and Olympias. At Assos, Thymondas is born to Mentor’s Rhodian mistress.
355	Battle of Lake Manyas; Mithridates is defeated and Dascylium returns to Artabazus’s control. Carian troops occupy Cos and Rhodes. Tithraustes, Ochus’s right-hand man, is sent west against Artabazus; Ochus also dispatches a letter to Athens demanding Chares’ recall and that peace be established with the rebellious islands.
354	The Social War ends. Late in the year, the eunuch Hermeias leads a coup against his master, Eubulus of Assos. Hermeias then becomes tyrant of much of the Troad. In Macedonia, Philip loses an eye at the siege of Methone, a town on the border of Macedonia and Thessaly.
353	Mentor flees to Egypt; Artabazus and Memnon, with their families, seek asylum at the court of Philip of Macedon. Philip is twice defeated in Thessaly by Onomarchus.
352	Philip returns to Thessaly, defeats and kills Onomarchus at the Battle of Crocus Field. In Asia, Mausolus of Caria dies; his sister-wife, Queen Artemisia II, succeeds him. She begins construction of the Mausoleum (one of the Seven Wonders of the World).
351	At Athens, Demosthenes advocates an anti-Macedonian stance in his First Philippic.
350	Pharaoh Nectanebo of Egypt sends Mentor with four thousand mercenaries to the aid of King Tennes of Sidon against the Persian satraps Belesys of Syria and Mazaeus of Cilicia. Mentor sends for Memnon to be his lieutenant.
348	Philip seizes Olynthus in the Chalcidice and razes it.
347	Death of the philosopher Plato. Aristotle leaves Athens and settles at Assos and near Mytilene on Lesbos. His friend Hermeias becomes his patron.
346	Ochus marches on Phoenicia. Mentor discovers Tennes’ planned betrayal and turns the tables on him, offering Ochus Sidon, Phoenicia, and Egypt in exchange for his service. Philip and Athens make peace (the Peace of Philocrates). The aging philosopher Isocrates pens his Address to Philip.
345	Memnon is sent back to Macedon. Barsine is betrothed to Mentor, pending the outcome of the Egyptian campaign.
344	Demosthenes delivers his Second Philippic. Alexander tames Boukephalos. Memnon joins Parmenion in Thrace as a mercenary.
343	Aristotle becomes Alexander’s tutor at Mieza. Mentor is successful in Egypt; Ochus makes him Supreme Commander of the West. Artabazus and Memnon are recalled to Persia. Barsine marries Mentor at Sardis.
342	Memnon captures Hermeias and takes control of the Troad through trickery. The eunuch is sent to Susa to be executed.
341	Philip conquers Thrace. At Athens, Demosthenes delivers his Third Philippic.
340	Death of Mentor of Rhodes. Memnon becomes lord of the Troad; he marries Barsine at Adramyttium. Philip besieges Perinthus and Byzantion. Late in the year Athens declares war on Philip.
338	King Artaxerxes III Ochus is assassinated by his vizier, the eunuch Bagoas, who then elevates Ochus’s youngest son, Oarses, to the throne. In Greece, Philip and Alexander crush a combined Greek army at Chaeronea. Egypt goes into rebellion once more.
336	Bagoas kills Oarses, then is himself dispatched by Artashata, the satrap of Armenia, who ascends the throne as Darius III. Philip sends an advance force across the Hellespont into Asia. Later in the year, Philip II of Macedon is assassinated by an exlover while attending the wedding of his daughter Cleopatra to King Alexandros of Epiros (Olympias’s brother). Alexander is proclaimed King of Macedon.
335	Destruction of Thebes. Darius tasks Memnon with stopping the Macedonians; he defeats Parmenion, forcing him back to his bridgehead at Abydus on the Straits. Aristotle returns to Athens and starts a philosophical school, the Lyceum.
334	Alexander crosses into Asia. The Persians marshal at Zeleia; ignoring Memnon’s advice, the Persian satraps meet Alexander at the river Granicus and are defeated. Memnon is then given supreme command over the Persian army and navy. He sends envoys to the Spartans to form an alliance with the intent of invading Macedonia as a way of drawing Alexander away from Asia. Siege of Halicarnassus; Memnon wounded during a sortie. Persians withdraw into the Aegean.
333	Memnon dies suddenly, from a fever brought on by his wound, at the siege of Mytilene, on the island of Lesbos. Upon hearing news of his death, Darius musters his forces and meets Alexander at Issus. The Persians are defeated. Barsine, along with numerous members of the royal family, is captured at Damascus.