Philip nodded. ‘Tell me, are all Persian cavalrymen mounted on such beasts?’
‘No, sire. He is special, from the Great King’s herd. Only the Royal Guard will have mounts of similar quality.’
‘And how many men make up the King’s Guard?’
‘One thousand, sire.’
Philip looked thoughtful, then he grinned. ‘Tune for the hunt,’ he said. ‘I will leave you to your lunch.’ Touching heels to the stallion he cantered away towards the distant forest, his officers trailing behind.
Parmenion finished his meal and thought back to the morning’s work. The Macedonians were game enough, sturdy and tough, but still he sensed their suspicion. One year to train 6,000 men, to build an infantry army from cavalrymen.
One day at a time, Savra, he cautioned himself. He glanced up to see the men returning; they formed a great semi-circle around him and waited for his orders.
‘I want you to pick three generals from among you,’ he told them.
‘For what purpose?’ asked Achillas.
Parmenion smiled. ‘What purpose does a general serve? You will lead your men into battle – here on this training field. Now choose!’
Parmenion sat back and watched as the debates began, listening intently to the names proposed, studying the reaction of the men named. As he guessed Achillas was the first to be nominated, but the arguments raged on. Parmenion did nothing to interfere, even when tempers began to flare.
Theo stood up. ‘Stop this!’ he shouted. Silence fell. ‘We’ll be here for days if this keeps up. Surely it is a simple task? The strategos has asked for three men. All those in favour of Achillas raise a hand.’ Two-thirds of the men did so. ‘Then Achillas is one,’ said Theo. ‘Now, many of you were shouting for Petar. How many in favour?’ This time the vote was more evenly split, and Theo counted the hands before announcing Petar to be the second general. ‘Who will nominate a third?’ asked the black-bearded warrior.
‘I will,’ said Parmenion. ‘I nominate you – and there will be no voting on it. Let the three generals step forward.’ He
stood with them before the seated men. ‘Each of you in turn will select a warrior to make up your army. One at a time, so that no one can say any general had a greater advantage. You will each choose twenty-five men. Achillas, you may begin.’
Parmenion walked back to his seat and watched the process. In the early stages the chosen men stood, raised their hands and walked out to stand behind their leader, while the others cheered. But as the choosing continued a hush settled over the waiting men. No one wanted to be left unchosen and the tension grew. As the last man was selected, Parmenion turned to the generals. ‘Over there, by the trees, you will find shields and weapons. Go, arm yourselves.’ As they trooped away, Parmenion turned to the twenty-two men still seated.
‘There is no worse feeling in the world than this,’ he told them. ‘When I was a young man in Sparta many games would begin this way. Always I would be the one chosen last, or chosen not at all. We can tell ourselves that it is unfair; we can tell ourselves the choosers were wrong.’ He scanned their faces. ‘But ultimately we must accept that we have been judged by our fellows. Some of you will have been left here because you are small, weaker than your friends. Others will be here because they are not popular with any of the three generals. It does not matter why. I am now your general for this . . . test. We will compete with the others, and we will see if they were wrong. Now follow me.’
He led the disconsolate group to where the others waited. ‘Gentlemen, this will be your first battle as infantry units. The rules are simple. Each force has a general. The object for the enemy will be to kill or capture that general – which will be considered done if any warrior touches an enemy general. Is that understood? Good. Achillas, take your warriors to the southern end of the field, Theo to the west, and Petar to the east. When I give the signal you can move forward —against any other group. I will command the northern section. One last point: there are two badges to be won here. One will go to the general commanding the