deceiving even our gods with ambiguous promises. It is true that nothing black in the world is absolutely black, nor is anything white pure white, but in serving the Persian king’s cause I believe that I am also serving my own people best.”
Realizing that I was not as captivated by the idea as he, he quickly picked up a stick and began to draw a map in the sand to show me how advanced the preparations were for a military expedition. “The King will vanquish Greece by land,” he explained. “For that reason he has secured bases in Trachia. The combined fleets of Phoenicia and lonia will accompany an army the like of which has not been seen before, to assure its maintenance and communications. A bridge of ships as hard as earth is being built across the Bosphorus, and in the event of storms canals have been dug across Trachian peninsulas so that the ships will not have to sail around them. For nine years these preparations have been under way. When the army begins marching from Asia to Europe every step will have been planned. True, Athens is agitating violently throughout the Greek world and has dedicated the output of its silver mines to the construction of new triremes. But actually Athens is rilled with. despair and a spirit of defeat although it tries to appear bold.” Xenodotos smiled his narrow smile and added, “Even the oracle at Delphi is uncertain and gives ambiguous responses.”
He pressed his fingertips together and remarked, “That is why I have come to Rome, from where it is easy to observe what is going on in the Etruscan cities. I myself cannot and must not participate visibly in the conferences. Outwardly it is a question only of the Carthaginians’ and the Etruscans’ own interests in resisting Greek pressure. The Etruscans will not even have to know that the Persian king is financing the arming of Carthage. But it is most important for the Etruscans that their leaders realize in advance the propitiousness of the moment for crushing the Greeks in the West. The goddess of victory will hardly offer them another opportunity like this.”
I took the crock of wine from the spring and filled our cups. The hilltops were turning red and dusk settled on their slopes. The odor of the wine and the roses seemed stronger as the evening cooled.
“Xenodotos,” I said, “be honest. Such thorough preparations and such an enormous army cannot be intended merely for the conquest of the Greek mainland. One does not need a smith’s hammer to kill a mosquito.”
He laughed nervously, sought my eye in the dusk and admitted, “Once Greece belongs to Persia the next step, of course, will be to send armies to the Italian mainland. But the King will remember his allies. You surely know that from friendly cities he demands no more than earth and water. The removal of a single stone from the wall will suffice as token recognition of Persian power.”
It was strange that I, who as a youth had so ardently joined in the Ionian revolt and fought the Persians, should now without hesitation have chosen the supremacy of Persia. But that decision had ripened in my heart and I made the choice with open eyes, once again committed by earthly reason to struggle against the blind forces of Fate.
I said to Xenodotos, “I have made friends in the Etruscan cities and will be glad to talk to them before their leaders meet to drive another yearly nail in the wooden pillar at the temple of Volsinii. I have learned to admire the Etruscans and to respect them and their gods. For their own security, if they wish to remain the masters of their sea, they must support the Carthaginian expedition.”
“You will not regret your decision, Turms!” cried Xenodotos. “And don’t fear for yourself. I inquired about you in Ephesus. The King does not bear a grudge against you for burning the temple of Cybele. On the contrary, your crime agrees with his policy perfectly by obligating him to an unexpiated war against Athens. As far as you are concerned it is forgotten and wiped away.”
But I said morosely, “My crime is a matter between me and the gods. I do not seek forgiveness of humans.”
Understanding my pride he easily turned the conversation to other important matters. “You understand the conditions better than I and know what to do. If you need Persian gold you will have it. Later you will be rewarded personally for every Tyrrhenian warship and every Etruscan soldier who joins the Carthaginian expedition to conquer Himera, regardless of the outcome.”
“I have no desire for Persian gold,” I told him. “I have enough for my needs. It is wiser not to circulate Persian gold in these lands, for the Etruscans are suspicious and easily hurt. It is better merely to convince them that the future of their seafaring cities depends on it.”
Xenodotos shook his head in disbelief. “You are stupid and politically unenlightened, Turms. Warfare requires gold first, last and always. Everything else follows logically. But do as you please. Perhaps the King’s favor will some day mean more to you than gold.”
“I don’t aspire to be in the good graces of the King,” I said stubbornly. “I don’t agree with you otherwise, either. Gold does not decide wars, but rather the discipline of the men and training in the use of weapons. One who is hungry and lean will defeat one who is wealthy and fat.”
Xenodotos burst into laughter. “Undoubtedly I have grown stouter and walking makes me perspire, but my knowledge has increased and I believe that I have become cleverer than I would have by running in the Siccanian forest and sleeping on the bare ground. I can always hire disciplined soldiers to protect me from the lean Greeks. Whosoever grasps a sword himself is mad. The wise man makes others fight and himself watches the outcome of the battle from a secure place.”
His cynical words made me decide firmly to accompany the Etruscans to Himera and to fight at their side even though bloodshed had become repugnant to me. I felt that I owed it to them if I succeeded in inducing them to participate in a distant war. But I did not tell Xenodotos of my decision, for he would have considered it laughable.
Still smiling, he took from his neck a heavy gold chain, hung it around my neck and asked, “At least take this as a memento of me and my friendship. All the pieces are of the same size and they do not bear the Persian stamp. You can remove them one at a time according to need.”
The chain weighed around my neck like a fetter but I could not return it without hurting him. Something in me warned me that I was committing myself to something that did not concern me, but I had spent a purposeless life for so long a time that I yearned for significant deeds.
4.
Xenodotos remained in Rome while I journeyed to Tarquinia to meet Lars Arnth Velthuru. Despite his youth he immediately understood the importance of the matter and the opportunities that it offered for reviving waning Etruscan sea power and crushing Greek competition.
He said, “The inland cities have young and ambitious men who are dissatisfied with the old. There are also hardy shepherds and farmers who dare place their lives at stake to win more with one blow in a war than they could hope to obtain by a lifetime of serving others. Although our large islands can hardly release their vessels, which are needed to guard the mines, the iron families of Populonia and Vetulonia will realize what is for their own good, and Tarquinia will provide us with at least ten warships.”
He took me to see his father, Aruns Velthuru, who respected tradition to such a degree that he did not permit himself to be called a Lucumo but had Tarquinia ruled by a council instead. A more august man I had never met. Despite his position he received me courteously and understandingly once I had reached his presence. With the aid of a map I explained the plan for the Persian king’s military expedition and repeated Xenodotos’ contention that a more opportune moment for vanquishing the Greeks would hardly arrive.
He listened carefully, his face slender and ageless, and said finally, “I do not believe that it is the gods’ intention that only one man or one nation rule the entire world. Nations keep one another in balance. They grow and progress as the result of mutual competition. All nations are equal and human suffering is the same, no matter whether the person be Etruscan, Greek, or black. Nations rise and recede in cycles and each nation’s growth, blossoming and fading has been measured. Etruscan cities are no better or more important than Greek cities, although we perhaps know more about the gods than the other peoples. A human can redeem ten additional years from the gods and a nation or city one hundred years, but by more than that none can prolong existence.”
His words of wisdom made a deep impression on me, but Lars Arnth became impatient and said, “My father, you are old and do not understand the new times as well as we who are younger. The question of Greek influence on land and sea is for us a matter of life and death. If Carthage feels that it is compelled to go to war, we must support Carthage. And if we support Carthage we must do so with all our resources.”
