A Cat At the End of the World by Robert Perišic

Author:Robert Perišic
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sandorf Passage
Published: 2022-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

Apoikia

WHEN THE TOP of the hill floated out of the horizon and Oikistes shouted, “There is Issa!” there was much relieved murmuring, sighing, and some bursting into tears. Everyone looked toward the hill’s peak, glimmering in the reflection of the waves; eyes open like fish, palms sweating, they watched this place as if trying to fix it under the sky. The top of the hill danced along with the tip of the bow, as the deck boards quietly whined, and so close to the distant home, the whole ship panted like a dog.

Then, after a flash of joy, many eyes narrowed and many tongues licked their lips, fearing the stories and images from myths filled with surprises. Supposedly everything was as Oikistes claimed and as peaceful as it looked from the ship. But islands always look peaceful from the sea. Hopefully no human power had made a home there already, or Polyphemus, that some said lived in this sea, while others claimed that Odysseus had met him close to the shores of Sicily, which they found a lot less believable.

They were more worried about the people who lived along this sea, some of them had heard of the Liburnians, the fast ships and solid defense of this seafaring people. There were those who knew about Liburnian thalassocracy, their dominion on this sea, but those were the ones who knew more about the world beyond what they had seen, the ones close to Oikistes, and they had been strictly asked not to talk about it.

Oikistes had told them with deep conviction that Issa was a safe harbor and here would be no resistance. Even if there was, the army that followed them would suffice. Oikistes knew more, but except for him, Kleemporos, and Arion—who was on a different ship—no one knew anything about it. Because there had been an illness. They had told as much to Dionysius upon returning from their scouting journey to the island the previous summer.

They had stayed on the island longer than planned, and they were ordered to explore the bays, not just their shape and beauty but to look for underwater springs, and if they found them, they were to secretly negotiate with the Liburnian leaders, find one of them who would be willing to sell them land, because Dionysius knew he could not wage war at such a distance. That is how apoikias were built: the Greeks always wanted to come in peace. Not just because they wanted peace but because the building of apoikias was hard to implement while fighting a war far from home. It was too expensive and it was better to find greedy tribal leaders, offer them a good price, and pay for the land. People could complain about their leaders, which would raise the worth of the Greeks who were coming to replace those leaders. The leaders have sold us, people would say, down with them; and then Greeks turned up like gentlemen and purchased from those gluttons, but at least they might bring order.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.