Eumenes 1, Chapter 1: Private Lesson

At last the spring welcomes us who now descend the Kaukasos mountains crossing the Khyber Pass. Snowy scenery turns into green grass fields, warm wind blows and black birds are whistling in ash trees. Our Lord stops marching here to fix today's camp. While soldiers are collecting woods, pitching tents and making fires, I spread a sheet between trees to avoid sun exposure, place a table and chairs under the shadow, prepare for writing. This is not a good place to study something, for the yellow primroses blooming in rocky meadows and white butterflies flying over the blue sky constantly attempt to attract her attention.

My Lord charged me to teach her the Hellenic language. I'm new to Persian, and she speaks only Persian. No way, I would increase my Persian vocabularies while teaching her Hellenic. I let her start practicing Hellenic alphabets.
“You spell your name as, Α, Μ, Α, and Σ,..., ΤΡΙΕ. You see. Then write it yourself, please.”
“Is this my name? 'ΑΜΑΣΤΡΙΕ'? What weird letters! It doesn't seem my own name.”
“You will soon get used to it, Princess Amastri.”
“Master!?”
“Yes, Princess?”
She puts her quill pen into an inkpot, folding her arms, turning towards me.
“I don't know whom I should ask, so Master, if you don't mind, could you give me some advice?”
Advice? For what, so seriously?
“I'm willing to help you if I can, Princess.”
“Why your King married my sister? I heard he already has a wife and a son in his home country.”
I remember a moment a well-fed, my good old mama Barsine, and his son, Herakles.
“Well, the reason is, I presume, that your elder sister, Princess Raokhshna, is so beautiful, but moreover, because she belongs to the Persian royal family. My Lord respects the Persian imperial lineage, which he thinks should never be extinct.”
“It means, must I get married to a Hellenic man like my sister, sooner or later?”
Ha, Amastri is anxious about her marriage.
She is a lovely nymph with fresh skin, as beautiful as her sister Raokhshna, but still too young to be married. She is a flower bud in early spring, not blooming yet.
“You might so. My Lord is eager for a long time to establish deep relationship between Hellenes and Persians.”
“It makes me feel sad. Who will be my husband? Perhaps he will have several wives besides me, I'm afraid.”
“Sorry, but I have no idea about it.”
“A woman should have as many husbands as she wants, as a man has as many wives as he wants. How unfair!”
“I absolutely agree with you. Marriage should be equal. But a Makedonian noble man sometimes has several wives.”
“Mr. Eumenes, are you a Makedonian noble, too?” Apama, who takes care of the sisters askes me. She is old enough to be married, but still single. She is too busy to have her own family. She always looks depressed and exhausted handling the naughty Princesses.
“No, I am a Hellenic citizen, not a Makedonian. I'm not noble, either.”
“What's the difference between Hellenes and Makedonians? Both speak the Hellenic language. They seem identical.”
“Yes, it's true. From a foreigner's point of view, we may look almost alike. However, there are many differences. Hellenes are very individualistic and self-centered. A Hellenic husband has only one wife. A Hellenic woman also marries a single man.”
“Why those differences occur?”
“I'm not so sure about it.”
Amastri asked me again.
“Hmm, I suppose you have a wife but leave her in your home country, don't you?”
“No, I've never been married.”
“Why don't you have your wife?”
“Just because I'm a poor scholar, I don't have enough money to feed my family.”
“That sounds strange. Though you were a poor scholar when you were in Hellas, you have participated in your King's campaign, now you become a senior officer. I think it's time for you to marry some woman.”
“Certainly. But I can't imagine what family I will have, or what husband I shall be, how I manage my life with a woman and her children, since I'm so accustomed to my single life, which seems good enough for me. I need nothing more.”
“Though how much you love being single, you will be also compelled by your King to get married to some Persian girl.”
“I guess so.”
To Whom Apama will get married? I am afraid our Lord keeps poor Apama single and makes her serve Persian princesses until she dies.

After a while, Amastri asked me again.
“You seem so intimate with your King. Are you a relative of him? You said you are not a Makedonian. Are you a member of a Hellenic noble house?”
“As I said before, I'm not a noble. Not a servant or slave, either. I was born and raised in an almost insignificant rural country called 'Kardia', which is one of the countless city-states in Hellenic territory. There, I was a son of a physician.”
“A physician? Has your father ever served as a medic in Makedonia?”
“No, not at all. My family lives in a coastal village. Kardians are generally sailors or fishermen, as most Hellenes are. My father also fishes, as well as sells drugs to fishers. When I grew up, Father sent me to a scholar, who is my Master Aristoteles, to study pharmacy. After that, King Philippos, who is the father of our King, called my Master to his court to teach his boy.”
“I got it. The boy was the Prince Alexandros.”
“Yes. That's right. The prince and I met at Mieza, the academy of Makedonia, where my Master taught us writing, counting money, collecting useful herbs, curing patients, and so on. Now, I make drugs, treat injuries, write letters and documents for our Lord. Teaching you is also my job, as you know.”
“A-ha, so you are a quite busier man, than you look. The more you learn, the more you have to work harder.”
“You are as cynical as a philosopher.”
“I would like to know more, Master.”
“Good.”
“Where is Kardia, your home country. In neighborhood of Makedonia?”
“Well, that is ...”
I pick up the pen from her inkpot and write a map on a piece of papyros18. I also regard it as my task to teach her geography.
“There is a strait, called Hellespontos, which separates Europe from Asia. Kardia is here, on the European side of the strait. Makedonia is here, in the northern mountains in Hellenic territory.”
“I see. Then where are we now?”
I'm at a loss for a while, thinking how I explain.
“About here, Master?” She pointed at somewhere east on the map.
“No, no, much more. Far east. I write another map.”
“Another? Don't waste your papyros.”
“Princess, you never figure out geography without reading and writing maps on papyros, again and again.
In the first place, Asia is the largest continent and located at the center of the world. The center of Asia is Mt. Ararat, which is the highest and most sacred mountain in this world. Asia is surrounded by four lands, European, Indian, Libyan, and Scythian. Outside of these continents, a huge salty water is circulating. This water is called Okeanos. Outside of Okeanos is the end of the world.”
“Who and what live there, where, the outside of the end of the world?”
“Who knows, Princess? And our Hellas is located at here, the boundary of Europe and Asia. From Tauros to Kaukasos, mountains penetrate Asia, centered at Ararat here, finally reaching to Indian subcontinent. We are here, on the boundary of Asia and India. This province is called Gandhara.”
“The Province of Gandhara. So we are in Gandhara, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then where is my home country Bakhtrish?”
“Not far from here. On the boundary of Scythia and Asia.”
“I'm so impressed. You know everything. You are a great teacher.” She looked at me with a mischievous smile.
“Stop flattering me.” It makes my back itchy.