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Chapter 2 Epilogue
The interview begins now.
So, this is what happens. I must admit, you are not what I expected, but no matter. This is what it is, and I am here. This is what the Gods have willed, and so it is that it now comes to pass. I have long since ceased to sigh and fret as their decisions. Are you yourself going to speak? I shall take that as a no. No matter, I am used to the rigours of public speaking, where one does not expect responses to the thing that one says, unless one is stirring the heart or stoking wrath. Or simply being a bad speaker... Though speaking between individuals in such a manner can at times be just as nerve wracking, can it not?
So, ‘the interview’ you say. What manner of information do you seek, I wonder? Perhaps you are one such as Sophrosnikos, who was always keen to see what could be revealed by men unintentionally. I see now that you do not respond to anything I say, it is up to me to dictate what questions I answer. Very well, I shall apply myself to the task at hand.
I am Perikles, son of Xanthippos, son of Ariphron, Alkmaionidos. I was born Athenaios, and shall end my days Athenaios. But when the Persai came I relocated to Italia with my father, where we refounded the ancient and opulent city of Sybaris in memory and image of Athenai. There, after my father died in war, I became one of the most prominent of our body of politai. In my first election as strategos, I beat back the Tyrsenoi and their allies from the sack of Italia. I led the fleet that supported our intervention in Krete. I listened to Aiskylos talk as he lay dying in his bed. I stood firm when the supporters of oligarkhia tried to take power away from the demos, and I personally prosecuted every last one of them that I could get my hands on. I persuaded old Aristides to come to us at last, to die at peace and surrounded by free Athenaioi, and I persuaded Anaxagoras by the labour of my speech to depart Athenai and enrich us with his wisdom. I lifted the wavering hearts of the politai when tragedy, mishap, and dreadful war threatened to overwhelm their faith in our future. I sought power for my people not through excessive violence, whilst still resorting to measured violence when necessary, but through strength and wise diplomacy with other Hellenes, and where necessary even engaging those considered barbaroi by most thinking Hellenes.
I also led thousands of young, brave men full of life to their deaths. It was always done with the intention of meaningful service, I never treated the lives of fellow politai or even our allies as being merely the cuttings from which a wreath was to be fashioned, but not all of those deaths were necessary. I made mistakes and errors, and I made decisions that ensured loss of life where perhaps I could have chosen a less deadly path. When you are young, proud, and imbued with the authority of the entirety of your fellow politai, seeking to fulfill duty and other obligations, it seems to come easily, the kind of decision where a life, or many lives, are exchanged for something valuable. But I am old, I am so very old, and the memories of vanished people gather around me as swallows gather around the edge of a lake. If you were the kind of person that was on speaking terms with Haides, I would ask of you to ensure that their afterlives are glorious and sweet. I did not save them in their days of living on Ge’s green fields, but at least I can say that I strove with every facility at my command to ensure that not a single Athenaios lost to war was ever lost in vain, or without swift vengeance following his departure. Then I steadily lost my facility to take part in battle directly, as though those spirits that gathered around me slowly drew out the vigour from my body, and I could only steer the other politai with my word-shaping skill, and my confident voice.
What was the purpose of all this? That is perhaps what you think, in the midst of your silence. Why so much death, and plotting, and tragedy? There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom, and the price of freedom is one no intelligent being could dare hope to esteem, be they mortal or divine. Our freedom was taken from us at the hands of war and treachery, the lands we lived in forcibly subjugated to a king of the Persai. No cost was too high when it came to preserving an independent community of Athenaioi, no risk too daring, no emotion too passionate. Yet in our ultimate goal we have failed- we have not recovered the lands of Attika from the foe, nor freed any other land in which Hellenes dwell which the Persai have successfully conquered with military force or diplomacy. Is this a task that could even have been successfully completed, in the face of so mighty a force that stalks Ge as the Empire of the Persai? Perhaps it could not have, not in our current generation, not with so few set against so many. But though the King of the Persai remains the sovereign of our homeland, though he remains vigorous and mighty, we bloodied his nose in a way that has not been done since the battle at Marathon.
Yet, now that I am come to this interview with you, I feel no anger towards the king of the Persai, nor his father or his father’s father. They were the curse of many lips, the cause of many a long and bloody story of vengeance. They conquered my homeland and those of many of our fellow Hellenes, and have sacked more than a few of the poleis of Hellas. And yet, now that we are at this point, I do not think of them as barbaroi. Who could look upon the splendour of the sons of Achaimenes, at the realm they have carved from man and marble alike, and not feel awe rising through both body and soul? There are the corrupt, the sycophantic, and the cruel among those that serve the king of the Persai, but there are also noble warriors, wise councillors, and inspired poets. To have stood against that and made something for ourselves was exhilarating, and perhaps something that addicted us. We, I, became drunkards for defiance. Perhaps that’s all our resistance to the Persai amounted to, the overwhelming need to take on the most powerful human force upon Ge and say “We defy you!”. No, I don’t think so, actually. It is true that the experience of standing against a great power is exhilarating, but that was not all of what we amounted to, nor the only reason that we have fought and will continue to fight on beyond my death. We have built, together, new societies and new possibilities in this land of Italia to which we came. We have defended those who sought our mighty arm, not simply for our benefit but because we know what it is to beg others for the survival of your community, and not all of those who we defended were Hellenes. Some may have held their noses when barbaroi fought alongside us, I did not, not in my heart. Athenai comes first, the Hellenes come first but there is still a place for basic ethics when it comes to barbaroi, of basic entitlements to fair treatment and avoidance of violence. I suppose I have always felt that, even when my hatred of the Persai drove me to say that no barbaroi could ever be fully trusted without superior strength in arms guarding against treachery. Even after decades of occupation of our ancestral lands by the Persai, even after stating such passionate anger over barbaroi and their behaviour, I could not overcome my own innate sense of justice. There is a need for freedom, but also a need for justice, is there not? It is justice that I wish for the Hellenes, and my instinct has been that only Hellenes can provide justice for other Hellenes. But perhaps a Perses, or a Medos, or a Babylonios can provide justice too. If anyone can provide justice for the Hellenes, perhaps that is enough for me.
The interview is over.
Μηδίζω! THE WORLD OF ACHAEMENID HELLAS
CHAPTER 2
EPILOGOS
EPILOGOS
The interview begins now.
So, this is what happens. I must admit, you are not what I expected, but no matter. This is what it is, and I am here. This is what the Gods have willed, and so it is that it now comes to pass. I have long since ceased to sigh and fret as their decisions. Are you yourself going to speak? I shall take that as a no. No matter, I am used to the rigours of public speaking, where one does not expect responses to the thing that one says, unless one is stirring the heart or stoking wrath. Or simply being a bad speaker... Though speaking between individuals in such a manner can at times be just as nerve wracking, can it not?
So, ‘the interview’ you say. What manner of information do you seek, I wonder? Perhaps you are one such as Sophrosnikos, who was always keen to see what could be revealed by men unintentionally. I see now that you do not respond to anything I say, it is up to me to dictate what questions I answer. Very well, I shall apply myself to the task at hand.
I am Perikles, son of Xanthippos, son of Ariphron, Alkmaionidos. I was born Athenaios, and shall end my days Athenaios. But when the Persai came I relocated to Italia with my father, where we refounded the ancient and opulent city of Sybaris in memory and image of Athenai. There, after my father died in war, I became one of the most prominent of our body of politai. In my first election as strategos, I beat back the Tyrsenoi and their allies from the sack of Italia. I led the fleet that supported our intervention in Krete. I listened to Aiskylos talk as he lay dying in his bed. I stood firm when the supporters of oligarkhia tried to take power away from the demos, and I personally prosecuted every last one of them that I could get my hands on. I persuaded old Aristides to come to us at last, to die at peace and surrounded by free Athenaioi, and I persuaded Anaxagoras by the labour of my speech to depart Athenai and enrich us with his wisdom. I lifted the wavering hearts of the politai when tragedy, mishap, and dreadful war threatened to overwhelm their faith in our future. I sought power for my people not through excessive violence, whilst still resorting to measured violence when necessary, but through strength and wise diplomacy with other Hellenes, and where necessary even engaging those considered barbaroi by most thinking Hellenes.
I also led thousands of young, brave men full of life to their deaths. It was always done with the intention of meaningful service, I never treated the lives of fellow politai or even our allies as being merely the cuttings from which a wreath was to be fashioned, but not all of those deaths were necessary. I made mistakes and errors, and I made decisions that ensured loss of life where perhaps I could have chosen a less deadly path. When you are young, proud, and imbued with the authority of the entirety of your fellow politai, seeking to fulfill duty and other obligations, it seems to come easily, the kind of decision where a life, or many lives, are exchanged for something valuable. But I am old, I am so very old, and the memories of vanished people gather around me as swallows gather around the edge of a lake. If you were the kind of person that was on speaking terms with Haides, I would ask of you to ensure that their afterlives are glorious and sweet. I did not save them in their days of living on Ge’s green fields, but at least I can say that I strove with every facility at my command to ensure that not a single Athenaios lost to war was ever lost in vain, or without swift vengeance following his departure. Then I steadily lost my facility to take part in battle directly, as though those spirits that gathered around me slowly drew out the vigour from my body, and I could only steer the other politai with my word-shaping skill, and my confident voice.
What was the purpose of all this? That is perhaps what you think, in the midst of your silence. Why so much death, and plotting, and tragedy? There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom, and the price of freedom is one no intelligent being could dare hope to esteem, be they mortal or divine. Our freedom was taken from us at the hands of war and treachery, the lands we lived in forcibly subjugated to a king of the Persai. No cost was too high when it came to preserving an independent community of Athenaioi, no risk too daring, no emotion too passionate. Yet in our ultimate goal we have failed- we have not recovered the lands of Attika from the foe, nor freed any other land in which Hellenes dwell which the Persai have successfully conquered with military force or diplomacy. Is this a task that could even have been successfully completed, in the face of so mighty a force that stalks Ge as the Empire of the Persai? Perhaps it could not have, not in our current generation, not with so few set against so many. But though the King of the Persai remains the sovereign of our homeland, though he remains vigorous and mighty, we bloodied his nose in a way that has not been done since the battle at Marathon.
Yet, now that I am come to this interview with you, I feel no anger towards the king of the Persai, nor his father or his father’s father. They were the curse of many lips, the cause of many a long and bloody story of vengeance. They conquered my homeland and those of many of our fellow Hellenes, and have sacked more than a few of the poleis of Hellas. And yet, now that we are at this point, I do not think of them as barbaroi. Who could look upon the splendour of the sons of Achaimenes, at the realm they have carved from man and marble alike, and not feel awe rising through both body and soul? There are the corrupt, the sycophantic, and the cruel among those that serve the king of the Persai, but there are also noble warriors, wise councillors, and inspired poets. To have stood against that and made something for ourselves was exhilarating, and perhaps something that addicted us. We, I, became drunkards for defiance. Perhaps that’s all our resistance to the Persai amounted to, the overwhelming need to take on the most powerful human force upon Ge and say “We defy you!”. No, I don’t think so, actually. It is true that the experience of standing against a great power is exhilarating, but that was not all of what we amounted to, nor the only reason that we have fought and will continue to fight on beyond my death. We have built, together, new societies and new possibilities in this land of Italia to which we came. We have defended those who sought our mighty arm, not simply for our benefit but because we know what it is to beg others for the survival of your community, and not all of those who we defended were Hellenes. Some may have held their noses when barbaroi fought alongside us, I did not, not in my heart. Athenai comes first, the Hellenes come first but there is still a place for basic ethics when it comes to barbaroi, of basic entitlements to fair treatment and avoidance of violence. I suppose I have always felt that, even when my hatred of the Persai drove me to say that no barbaroi could ever be fully trusted without superior strength in arms guarding against treachery. Even after decades of occupation of our ancestral lands by the Persai, even after stating such passionate anger over barbaroi and their behaviour, I could not overcome my own innate sense of justice. There is a need for freedom, but also a need for justice, is there not? It is justice that I wish for the Hellenes, and my instinct has been that only Hellenes can provide justice for other Hellenes. But perhaps a Perses, or a Medos, or a Babylonios can provide justice too. If anyone can provide justice for the Hellenes, perhaps that is enough for me.
The interview is over.
- Daeres
- Word Count: 1.4k