Read Online Warriors in Bronze by George Shipway - Free Book Online

guard his stock; and grumbled expansively. 'A steady attrition of man­power: over the past two years I've had to leave detachments at other outlying farms which suffered attacks from Goatmen. The men I lose are husbandmen and soldiers both, so Mycenae's tillage declines and her defences shrivel. The Goatmen have been a pest for years; they're quickly becoming a danger!'
    I bade Diores a sorrowful farewell, and clasped Gelon's hand. Atreus remarked my friendship with the Scribe, and said approvingly, 'A first-class accountant, Diores says, and an excellent organizer. I'll soon have him back at Mycenae to teach you administration, auditing stores and trading returns, excise duties and profit and loss - a damned complicated busi­ness which I've never quite mastered myself.' I found Mycenae outwardly unchanged; within the palace there were minor alterations. Atreus and my mother now occupied an extensive suite overlooking the Great Court, the rooms so splendidly furnished they surpassed the royal apart­ments.
    Shortly after I left for the outlands the Marshal had married Aerope. Weddings in Achaea are sedate and simple affairs, the ceremony common to every rank of society. Atreus provided a banquet in the hall for King Eurystheus and his Council while Aerope, heavily veiled, waited with her ladies in a corner. With the final collop swallowed and beaker of wine gulped down the bride removed her veil, a Daughter cut a lock of her hair and dedicated it to The Lady. Atreus bowed to Eurystheus on his throne, faced the assembled nobles and took my mother's wrist. 'I declare this woman my fond and willing wife.' The king said, 'It is approved,' and that was that.
    Plisthenes - my father and Aerope's living spouse - might never have existed. The marriage cancelled him out. Even had he been present and hammering at the doors the union would still have been valid.
    The king approved.
    I believe Egypt and Phoenicia have permanent laws which govern people's conduct and relations. But except for the scales of murder fines no prescriptive laws exist anywhere in Achaea: the kings and the lords of citadels make day-to-day directives affecting their subjects' welfare; they alone decide disputes and punish malefactors. Councils may advise, if asked. Eurystheus occasionally allowed the Councillors' arguments to influence his judgments; Atreus, later, never. From these de­cisions there is no appeal; the king's word is the law.
    I paid my respects to my mother, who looked beautiful as ever. She informed me she had abandoned her hunting and chariot driving as inconsistent with the dignity of Mycenae's paramount lady - and the sun was browning her face. (Ladies, particularly palace ladies, take pride in preserving a pale com­plexion; lesser females have to brave the sun in performing their daily tasks; so you judge a woman's status by the colour of her skin.) She chattered trivialities, solicitously examined my half healed scars and recommended a salve she had got from the palace physician - a son of Aesculapius, the quack who ran a medical school at Epidauros. She listened brightly to my adventures and lost interest when a beefy, handsome Hero entered the apartment with a message from her husband. Aerope fluttered her lashes; the Hero dithered adoringly.
    I sidled out. My mother could never resist a man, and it did her no good in the end.
    I resumed my chariot driving under the tutelage of Atreus' Companion Phylacus, a dour, taciturn man but a first-rate hand with horses. I had often driven travelling chariots, heavy, lumbering vehicles. Battle chariots are different as hawks from herons, the carriage builder's art brought near perfection, strength and lightness delicately balanced. Drawn by two fleet horses - some experts added a trace horse, which Phylacus thought dangerous - the body is very light: oxhide or wicker- work covers a bentwood frame; you stand on a floor of plaited oxhide strips. A stout leather thong runs from a figwood guard­rail