Chapter Seven
His words were proved right fast enough about how his accession would be viewed as an opportunity to revolt against Macedon's hegemony. The first revolt occurred in Thessaly which controlled the important pass between mount Olympus and Ossa, the narrow gorge of the river Tempe.
Alexander acted as he was always to do, wasting no time and making a lightening march down to Ossa where the Thessalians believed they were invulnerable on that massive rock. They did not know my King never understood the meaning of that word; wherever the enemy were he would and could find a way to dislodge them. Ossa was to be the first of many 'unbelievable' victories; I, and his generals knew they were the product of an acute mind which could look at any tactical or strategic problem from every angle and come up with a solution faster than most of us could remember why we were there!
Discussing his idea with his engineers he had steps cut into the flank of Ossa itself, marched the infantry over the mountain and appeared in the Thessalians rear before they had finished taunting our envoys standing at their front gate. Their surrender was complete with not a drop of blood spilt in battle.
When the news reached Athens they did their usual arse kissing routine, rescinding their previous tribute to Pausanias and telling the Macedonian ambassador at Athens that they promised to be 'good' from now on. My King graciously accepted their apology but did not cross their border – he had something more important to do. He called a conference in Corinth where he was accorded all Philip's titles and confirmed as Pan-Hellenic war leader.
As soon as the south was controlled, we heard of renewed trouble in the north, in Thrace. This area was of paramount importance to the success of our invasion of Asia as it was our main route of communication – Parmenion was already being pushed back by various satraps and we couldn't leave communication with them in such a vulnerable position. So we moved north to Thrace and the unsubdued Triballians.
Almost the first action of Alexander as king was to rescind the decree's of exile of his friends and we marched north with Ptolemy, Leonnatus and the rest in our numbers. This was the first full campaign that Alexander had led since Chaeronea and he now had at his side all the men that were to go with him to Asia. Philotas was, in Parmenion's absence, his Chief of Staff; Cassander stayed at home to assist his father; and I was a junior officer in command of a company, as was Ptolemy and Leonnatus – Cleitus was a general and Craterus and Perdiccas were phalanx commanders.
Surprised? Be very clear on this – I may have, do, share his bed but when it comes to war or governing his empire my Alexander uses men who can do the job to his satisfaction. I did not have the experience he needed to lead men in a high-ranking position then – I had to earn my rank and prove to him I could do it the same as every other general in his army. I would not have allowed it to be any other way. As my king knows only too well, I'm an obstinate bastard when I choose to be. Of course I didn't refuse other gifts he gave me, such as a good horse, sword, better armour and a nice tent – he liked to see me well turned out and as he spent a good deal of time in my tent he wasn't going to accept mere junior officer standards there either. If accepting these things made me a sycophant, then I am one – I wouldn't have missed the dazzling smile that lit up his face whenever he gave me these gifts, large or small, for all the gold in Asia or the respect of my peers.
My rank did not allow me to attend Staff meetings then but the strategy they hammered out was re-discussed in private in my tent, or his, where every tactic was mulled over in the dark or early morning before we parted.
It was one of the toughest campaigns I have been in, fought in a savage region where the idea of placating the gods was killing nine boys, nine girls and nine sheep! Alexander never wavered, never stalled but drove on relentlessly until we reached the Danube and he received the tribute of all the tribes, including some Celts. I had never seen such massive men before in my life; they towered over my King physically but no one there was in any doubt who was in command. He even managed to talk some of these hulking specimens into joining our army and they proved their worth in many campaigns.
We were barely given time to collect our breath and take a well earned rest when he received word there was trouble in the south again. Demosthenes, that inveterate hater of Macedon had been working on the Thebans to revolt, goading them for the destruction of the Band and supplying them with arms and funds. He even produced a man who 'swore' he had seen Alexander fall in battle with his own eyes. I don't know if I was more amazed at his gall or depressed at the gullibility of the Thebans. Within the week we had marched back to Macedon, and a week later we were in front of Thebes herself. Still they refused to believe that it was Alexander himself and convinced their citizens that it was an army led by Alexandros of Lyncestis – no one to be afraid of. With the king's death, they argued, their treaty with Macedon was cancelled. They were swiftly disabused of that comforting idea.
Alexander requested their surrender. They refused. He sent again, confirming that it was indeed he, Alexander, himself in command and not a subordinate. They still refused! So we settled down for a siege. Philip's record in such campaigns was never great but this was to be the first time that Alexander would show to a world stage that he had mastered this art too.
Thebes requested help from her ally but when Athens realised it was Alexander himself there, they closed their ears and their gates to their allies pleading and left them to rot. It taught me, more than anything, the true nature of Athens – she was a city of hypocrisy; her support meant nothing if by giving it put Athens in danger. Ask the Boetians, or the Phocians or the Plataeans how Athens treated her 'friends'. I'd rather have a monarchy than this so-called 'democracy' they preach of – it's more honest.
Our army was now made up of contingents from most of the Greek States, many of whom had grudges against Thebans and proved it when the city fell.
Alexander has been condemned for destroying this City. Few who do so are soldiers or a king needing to put down a revolt. He conducted that campaign within the accepted rules of war: if besieged, and you refuse to surrender, no quarter need be given when the besiegers break in. All commanders in such a situation put the garrison and fighting men to the sword and sell the rest into slavery – even Athens did that. Could he have stopped the Allies from taking their own retribution against the inhabitants of Thebes as they did? Yes. In all our campaigns he had iron control over his men and only let them off the leash in a few rare instances. This was one of them.
I believe a part of him blamed Thebes for the less than savoury aspects of his father's character that had turned his parents against each other. But the main reason was the educational value it would give the rest of Greece and any other city that might consider turning against him. It was a lesson they learned well.
Our allies, the Phocians and the Plataeans went crazy and massacred anything that moved until Alexander sent Cleitus in to stop them – the survivors were sold. It was a crushing blow to any anti-Macedonian feelings still existing in Athens and they, once again, sent envoys to Alexander to 'congratulate' him on his victory and beg for mercy. Demosthenes was supposed to be a member of the party but backed off at the last moment and slunk away to hide in his humiliation. Instead of demanding the man be put on trial Alexander forgave him, to my utter astonishment.
"Is this wise, Xander?"
"He's a beaten man. I'll take no revenge on him."
I bit back a retort that he had felt no such qualms about Thebes, which had caused him less trouble en masse than this one man. Like his father before him, he wanted, ironically, to be accepted by Athens as a civilised Greek, not a sheep-herding barbarian from the north – it made him act as blindly as his father had where that city was concerned. So, Demosthenes lived on to fight another day.
Greece was now secure. It was time for the real adventure to begin.
TBC
A/N Next chapter is longer
