The Ends of the Earth by Valerio Massimo Manfredi

Author:Valerio Massimo Manfredi
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Macmillan Publishers UK
Published: 2011-01-31T06:00:00+00:00

Philotas left his quarters after nightfall and walked quickly towards the higher part of the city, to a large building made of mud bricks that had been assigned to the officers of the hetairoi cavalry. There was no moon, but the sky was nevertheless brimming with a myriad of incredibly large, bright stars and the shimmering ribbon of the galaxy was spread out against the celestial vault like a long sigh of light.

He was wearing a dark cloak and a hood covered his head and face so that no one would recognize him. He only revealed himself to the guard at the entrance, who immediately lowered his spear in salute. He entered and found himself standing before Simmias, one of the battalion commanders of the pezhetairoi.

‘Where are the others?’ he asked.

‘I don’t know,’ replied the officer.

‘Of course you know. You know as well as I do where they are. I will not leave here until I have seen them all, every one of them, otherwise I will inform the King.’

Simmias turned pale and said, ‘Wait here. Some of them are in the turret of the eastern bastion, others in the guard house of the central courtyard.’ He exited through a side door and Philotas was left to pace up and down, wringing his hands as he waited.

They arrived in dribs and drabs and Philotas looked them up and down as though inspecting a division of troops, but with an expression of disgust on his face: Simmias of Neapolis, commander of the third battalion of pezhetairoi, Agesander of Leucopedion, deputy commander of the fifth squadron of hetairoi, Limnos of Calestra, commander of the first company of the Vanguard, Polemon and Attalus, brothers of Amyntas, commanders of the shock troops, and Aristarchus of Poliakmon, deputy of the shieldsmen.

He started his lecture without even giving them time to open their mouths.

Have you gone mad? What is this story about your having decided to kill the King?’

‘Listen, you’ve got it wrong,’ Simmias sought to reply.

‘Enough!’ Philotas shut him up. Who do you think you’re speaking to? I want you now to tell me who took this decision and when exactly you intend to act, but above all else I want to know why.’

‘You know why,’ replied Polemon. ‘Alexander is no longer our King, he is a barbarian king, he dresses like a barbarian and he is surrounded by barbarians. And what of us? We who have conquered an empire for him and are now required to wait in humiliation in antechambers when we need to speak to him.’

And as if that were not enough,’ Simmias intervened, ‘there are his crazy plans to conquer the world. Understand? Conquer the world. But what world? Do any of us know where the world ends? And what if it never does end? Does that mean we have to drag ourselves through deserts, across mountains and desolate prairies just to conquer the occasional miserable little village like this Artacoana?’

And that’s not everything,’ said Limnos of Calestra. ‘He’s founding colonies

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