The Oracle Code

30

Seated at the long dining room table, Lourds reached into a basket and took out a small, fresh-baked flatbread. Breaking it open, he inhaled the naan‘s sweet aroma. He glanced at Fitrat sitting across from him. “Did you make this?”

“I did.”

Lourds scooped up a large bite of qabili palau, a rice pilaf prepared in a seasoned broth. The taste exploded in his mouth, and he sighed contentedly. “You set a very good table, Captain. My compliments.”

“You are most welcome, Professor.”

As he ate, Lourds parceled out the story he had put together in his mind. “In order to understand Aristotle and why his presence as Alexander the Great’s mentor was such a great blessing, you must first understand Plato.”

“The Greek philosopher and founder of the Academy in Athens?”

Lourds shot Captain Fitrat a glance, then remembered what Layla had told him of the man, how he had been schooled in America and his parents had expected him to become a doctor. “That’s right. He founded it on a piece of land called the Grove of Hecademus, also called Academus, hence the name Academy.”

Layla sipped her water. “The Greeks did have a way of naming things what they were.”

“They did.” Lourds ate a bichak, a small turnover stuffed with potatoes and herbs. “Aristotle was at the Academy when Plato was there. In fact, it was after Plato died — of natural causes, not hemlock like his mentor Socrates — and the position as head of the Academy came open, that Aristotle chose to leave Athens.”

Layla reached for a piece of bread. “As I recall, Aristotle was passed over for the position.”

“Yes. Even though he was the man best suited for the position, by all accounts. His work had already started to eclipse Plato’s, and Plato was even sitting in on some of Aristotle’s classes to learn the new methodologies his former student was creating.” Lourds sipped water. Wine had been offered, but he chose to honor the Islamic traditions of his hosts. “The position went to Speusippus, who was Plato’s nephew by his sister.”

“Ah, so the Greeks invented nepotism as well.” Captain Fitrat grinned again. “Very crafty, those Greeks.”

“Actually, they were practicing it, but the name didn’t come into favor until the Middle Ages with the Catholic popes and bishops who were busy trying to create heirs. That whole vow of chastity fouled up the normal fathers-to-sons inheritance. But I digress. After Aristotle discovered he was being passed over for the position and that it was being given to a man he felt was inferior to him, he left the Academy. There are some historians who think that he actually left before Plato died, that he already knew who was going to be appointed the head of the Academy. But that doesn’t matter. Xenocrates, his friend, also left.”

“I seem to recall that Xenocrates was head of the Academy.”

Lourds looked at Fitrat in surprise.

The captain looked a little embarrassed and shrugged. “I have a very good memory.”

“You must. Pity you took up being a soldier.”

“If I had not, perhaps you and Miss Cherkshan might not have survived your encounter earlier today.”

Anna, who had been mostly preoccupied, spoke up from her seat on the other side of Layla. “Personally, I am very glad that Captain Fitrat is who he is.”

Fitrat smiled at her.

Lourds held up his water and toasted Fitrat, who responded and clinked glasses with him. “Even without the death of Plato, Aristotle might have chosen to move on. He was thirty-seven and had to be feeling the pressure to develop something of a career.

“He and Xenocrates planned to start a school in Assos, which is near Lesbos. While Aristotle was in Assos, he married a young woman, Pythias.”

“I suppose Aristotle also felt it was time to take a wife?”

Uncomfortable now, the ring in his pocket pressing into his leg, Lourds squirmed in his chair. He caught Anna looking at him questioningly. He shook his head slightly, unnoticed by Layla, but not unnoticed by Captain Fitrat. The captain said nothing, but he looked appraisingly at them.

“Possibly, but their marriage only lasted ten years. She died, leaving Aristotle alone with a young daughter, named for her mother. He later married again, and he continued working at the school he founded with Xenocrates.”

“But not as the head of the academy?”

“No. Serving as second under Xenocrates, who would eventually be called to Athens when Speusippus died a few years later. But by that time, Aristotle was with Alexander. In 343 or later, depending on your resource, Philip II asked Aristotle to his court and presented Alexander to him. Alexander was thirteen, already a prime specimen of a man, tall and handsome and trained as a warrior. And in him, Aristotle must have seen his opportunity to make his mark in the world.”

“You make it sound like Aristotle groomed Alexander to take over the world.” Layla gazed contemplatively at Lourds.

“According to what Callisthenes wrote, that’s exactly what Aristotle did.”

“There’s no proof of that.”

“That was before Boris found these scrolls. Now academicians have fuel to add to that particular fire.” Lourds grinned sadly. “Boris would have been pleased to add something that would fan the flames of that particular argument.”

“Why is it an argument?”

“Some scholars say that Alexander merely wanted to see the world and the only way to truly see it was to conquer it so that he could travel safely. It also enhanced trade across the Middle East, then called Persia. Others see Alexander’s wars as a renewal of the Delian League.”

Anna was busy taking notes. “What was that?”

“The Delian League was a collection of Greek city-states, primarily under the guidance of Athens, that wanted to continue battling the Persian Empire. There was a famous battle, a win for the Greeks, and the end of the Greco-Persian Wars.”

“Okay, what were those?”

Lourds warmed to the subject. “Have you heard of the Mycenaean civilization?”

Anna frowned. “I’m thinking that doesn’t have anything to do with space aliens coming to Earth to take our water?”

Lourds laughed. “No. Mycenae was important to the Greeks because much of their Greek literature and myths, including Homer’s Iliad, were believed to have taken place there. Today, this is one of the most studied and most documented cultures of the Bronze Age. When Mycenae collapsed from disease and natural disasters and internal conflicts, many of the people might have migrated to the Middle East, then thought of as the Near East. As a result, the Greeks believed many of the inhabitants and cities of the Persian Empire were actually Greek in origin.”

“It was a land grab?”

Shaking his head, Lourds considered how best to explain. “It was more than a land grab. There was culture, history, trade routes. All of those things that would be necessary to help the Greek city-states become more powerful. Rome was beginning to flex its muscles at this time, and they had to have seen the writing on the wall. The Greek strategists knew that the war between the two cultures would be long and demanding.”

“They needed resources.”

“More than that, they needed conscripts for their armies. Someone to pick up the sword and spear and stand against encroaching armies. At the time, it was easier to conquer the Persian Empire than fight against Rome. But if the Persian Empire was conquered, if it was aiding the Greeks with resources and men, then the Delian League would be in a better position.”

“Aristotle was part of the Delian League?”

“No. The Delian League had been gone for a hundred years by that time. But the desire for the Persian Empire had not been quenched. Plato was a firm proponent of the ideals of the league, even though he was born long after the organization had officially ended. But Callisthenes believed that Aristotle saw in Alexander a chance to take back the lands that King Cyrus of the Persian Empire had taken from the Greeks.” Lourds shrugged. “As it turned out, Alexander was that chance.”

“Okay, I understand that the scrolls can be important documentation on Aristotle’s motivations and goals for taking the mentoring position — resources are important for everyone — but why would anyone be interested enough to murder to get them?”

Lourds shook his head. “I don’t know. Yet.” He bit into his naan and chewed, thinking of everything he’d read. “The one theme prevalent throughout Callisthenes’s scrolls is his insistence that Alexander had somehow won godly favors that helped him achieve all that he had done.”

“Godly?”

“Yes.”

“Do you mean that he believed the gods — the Greek gods — took part in this war?”

“I do. If you look at Greek mythology — which, by the way, is not nearly so dry as Aristotle’s discourses on dramatic theory — you will see that the Greek gods always interacted with the human world.”

“I know. I learned that in the Percy Jackson books.”

Lourds was familiar with the novels for young readers and thought they were some of the best books written for that age group. The author had managed to convey Greek history and the omnipresence of the jealous and very human Greek gods in a way that was both entertaining and informative.

“Then you know what I’m talking about?”

“You are telling me that something in the lost tomb of Alexander may be a lightning rod for the favor of the gods?”

“Not me. I don’t believe that for a moment. But some people might.”

Anna shook her head. “I do not see how anyone could believe such a thing.”

Captain Fitrat spoke up in his quiet, level voice. “Miss Cherkshan, you shelter tonight in a building that lies in a city torn apart by religious battles, where the Islam god and the Christian god are essentially the same being, but the people called to those beliefs differ in their opinions on how that god is supposed to be worshipped. People still wage wars to win the favors of God. They just fight over the one these days instead of many.”