“Not everyone can be born to the best families, and we older men have to keep an eye out for talented youngsters and help them to rise in the service of the state. One of my secretaries is ill-I have two, you know-he’s unable to continue to the end of his term of office. The post of secretary is a public one, but unlike other public posts I can nominate my own man for the job, no need for a messy election, and as long as he passes a simple review, there should be no problem.
“That’s why I want to offer you the position.”
I could barely believe I was hearing this, let alone credit that the Polemarch meant it. The job he offered was that of a functionary, full of hard work and plenty of blame when anything went wrong, but it was also far beyond the experience of my years. It was a job you offered to a coming man to give him experience in executive government before he took on an archonship.
“I…I can’t believe you’re saying this. Thank you, sir!”
“So you accept?”
“I would love to-”
“Fine, then I’ll get the process in motion-”
“Sir!”
“Yes?”
“I was going to add, sir, I have a commission. I have to complete it before I could start with you.”
Silence fell across us like a blanket. The Polemarch sat rock still for a handful of heartbeats, I could count mine quite clearly, then said, “This commission, is it of a public nature?”
“No, sir.”
“Do you think your private interests should come before service to the state?”
“No! Of course not, sir.”
“Then I don’t see the problem. You can continue this private affair when your work for the state is done.”
“This commission is in the public interest, sir, and I don’t see how I can stop now, having said I would complete it.”
“Integrity is an excellent thing in a young man. I applaud you. Many would have accepted my excellent offer without a second thought. Have you been paid for your work?”
“Not yet.”
“So again, there is no problem. Not having been paid, and delivered nothing, the contract is easily terminated. Your employer can find someone else at no loss to either party.”
“It’s still in the public interest, sir,” I persisted.
The Polemarch let the smallest touch of irritation show in his voice. “Are you working for a public official?”
“No, for Pericles, son of Xanthippus.”
“Then no matter what you might think, you are not at this point in service to the state. Xanthippus I know well, his son less so. And let me give you some advice on that score, from a man of greater years and hence greater experience in public affairs. Nico-I can call you Nico, can’t I? — associating with the more radical democrats is not likely to get you marked by the men that count as anything other than a troublemaker. I am right, aren’t I, in reading you as an ambitious young man?”
“Yes sir, I suppose that’s true.”
“Nothing wrong with that! I remember feeling the same way as a young lad. Right now, Nico, you have a feeling that you are contributing to the state. Because you’re talented and ambitious and have dreams, you magnify the significance of what you do, and in the process you overestimate its importance. Any young man would do the same. But what, after all, are you doing? You’re not working for an elected official. You’re not fulfilling the wishes of the Government, nor the directives of the Ecclesia.”
“I am investigating the murder of Ephialtes, sir.”
“There you are then, my point exactly! That’s a matter for the man’s deme, if they want to pursue it. The Government can’t spend its time catching criminals, or we’d never get any work done. That’s why we leave it to private individuals to do the leg-work and make the accusation, and we in Government supply the courts to judge the results.”
“Surely the death of this man matters far more than the average murder!” I protested.
The Polemarch raised an eyebrow and leaned back in his chair with a smile. “Was Ephialtes a public officer when he died? No? A strategos or other officer of the army? No? Then are you suggesting in our democracy we should treat one man as more important than another? Surely not, that would be quite contrary to what the democracy stands for, wouldn’t it? So it is quite impossible to do anything other than treat Ephialtes’ death the same as any other citizen.”
I pleaded, “Isn’t it common sense that his death means more? What if he was killed by an official?”
“I quite agree with you. All the more reason for his deme to get on with the job. You can search high and low throughout Athens, Nico, and you will not find a single official whose job it is to investigate crime. There never has been, not if you search back to the time of Draco, not even if you go back to King Theseus.
“I can see you feel confused. I understand. I am going to give you a while to think about what I’ve said, Nicolaos, a short while. I hesitate to say it, but there are other young men of talent who perhaps are as deserving of recognition as you. I cannot leave my offer open for long: say, for another three days. If you have not accepted within that time, I will be forced to conclude with the greatest sorrow that you have turned down the chance to boost your career far beyond what you could hope to achieve on your own in the next decade. Good day to you.”
I walked onto the street almost sobbing. I was desperate because everything the Polemarch had said was true. Murder was a private affair. Pericles’ commission was a private one and nothing to do with the state, even though he and I were sure it had everything to do with the state. And the greatest truth the Pole-march had told struck me to the core: I was desperately ambitious to succeed. It seemed to me in that short conversation the Polemarch had destroyed my life, because I could do nothing other than continue Pericles’ commission, and when I did, the Polemarch would slam his door in my face.
I tossed and turned all night thinking about what the Pole-march had said. The temptation to abandon Pericles and throw in my lot with the Polemarch was almost overwhelming. At some point in the darkness I decided to do so, and composed several speeches I might use to tell Pericles. I discarded every one of them when I imagined the disdain on Pericles’ face as I told him what I was doing. I realized with some shame, I hadn’t the courage to tell Pericles I was leaving him, but nor did I have the strength to turn away the Polemarch.
I temporized with the dawn. If I completed my commission quickly, then all my problems would disappear. I could have both Pericles’ reward and the Polemarch’s job by finding this hidden Tanagran within the next three days, and wringing the truth from him. I hoped to Hades he hadn’t already left town.
It may have been a fantasy, and it was certainly driven by moral cowardice, but it was the decision I made, and, of course, it was no decision at all. I rose immediately to perform that urgent task.
But where do you go to find a man in a city as big as Athens? There must be tens of thousands of men.
I rose to the predawn naked from my bed, and reached for my chitoniskos hanging on its peg. What a pleasure to be wearing civilian clothes again. I’d had to buy new clothes after my army time, and I preferred the smaller chitoniskos because it gave me room to move quickly; besides which, it was the fashion among all the young men. Mine was made of two rectangular sheets of light linen, sewn together down the right side and open down the left. I wrapped it around me, pinned the front and back sheets together over my shoulders, and stuck in an extra pin along the left to hold it all in place. I belted with a piece of rope and pulled the material up so that it bloused a little and brought the hem above my knees. I wrapped a short chlamys cloak across my shoulders and then added one more item many Athenians don’t carry-a dagger, which I lodged under my belt and within the material where it would not be obvious.
I had risen early, but my twelve-year-old brother had risen earlier still. He found me in the courtyard as I nibbled on a bowl of yesterday’s bread dipped in wine and pondered how to find one particular grain of sand on a beach.
“Nico, I was thinking. I suppose you’re going to look for that killer this morning?”
“Yes, but don’t even think about asking to come along. Our mother would kill me.”
“Of course, there aren’t many places you need search.”
