Transcript
Book 1, Chapter One: Longing, Pages 21 and 22
Oh, who wouldn’t be having a ball at this banquet? Here the wine springs carelessly from an endless stream of jugs,
and the gold dinner table shimmers with food –
dates, beef, flatbread, olive oil, yoghurt –
and yes, the entertainment is good too:
a band of court musicians, accompanied by the mellifluous and melodious bangle-jingling of Babylon’s most talented dancers, together with acts of unbelievable and questionable acrobatics,
while the men sing and laugh and tell stories of bravery and adventure,
including the guest of honour, a navy officer named Nearchus,
for whom this banquet is for.
Who wouldn’t be having a ball, right?
Oh, wait a second, here, at the end of this table,
up a few steps, here, on a golden throne, flanked by servants and their peacock tail fans, gently waving a breeze, here, now we see is the king of all kings,
Alexander of Macedon.
Alexander, oh who hasn’t heard of him yet! I’ve been told by some biographers in the past and present, that he’s a man of strong, imposing stock. With skin of olive brown sunkissed by the labour of conquest; and hair of honey sunlight, long and center-parted; and a neck so quirky it forever tilts his head upwards, slightly to the left, a classic swagger worthy of a sculptor’s gaze.
Now, my friends, all of these details I describe, are enough to make a lasting impression on anyone’s mind.
But it is his eyes, you see, that are most hard to forget. In this regard, I’m told they are gentle, dewy, and distinctively asymmetrical: the left eye is clear as day, the right dark as night. Blue and brown. Here, both of these skies
and their resulting melting glance, which often would recall emotions of terror and glory on whoever gazes upon them, they themselves are now narrowed
in boredom and disinterest
amongst the reverie.
Chapter One 021-022
This is the most detailed spread I’ve illustrated since I completed The Carpet Merchant of Konstantiniyya 3 years ago. 😰
Footnotes:
Some interesting objects and people you might like to see, which I’ve either used as loose inspiration or direct reference to their counterparts on this spread. Note: there’s usually more than one of these objects in the same museum or other museums.
- Duck-headed ladle
- Eye-cup
- Gold jug from the Oxus tresaure collection
- Mesopotamian silver drinking bowl with gold appliques
- Mesopotamian musicians and their instruments
Food on the table (that’s visible), in case you want to mimic this dinner party:
- A slab of beef
- Flatbread
- Dried dates
- Pheasant with quince
- Babylonian meat stew, or Tu’hu (here’s a recipe you can follow from Tasting History)
The couch that Alexander’s sitting on is entirely made-up. I based the decoration off the Golden Vine and Golden Tree, which Alexander may have encountered, in real life and in legend.
“The Persian kings had come to such a pitch of luxury, that at the head of the royal couch there was a supper-room laid with five couches, in which there was always kept five thousand talents of gold; and this was called the king’s pillow. And at his feet was another supper-room, prepared with three couches, in which there were constantly kept three thousand talents of silver; and this was called the king’s footstool. And in his bed-chamber there was also a golden vine, inlaid with precious stones, above the king’s bed.” (Alexander’s chamberlain Chares, as quoted by Athenaeus, taken from page 45 of Alexander the Great: A Life in Legend by Richard Stoneman)
The golden tree design is pulled from this Assyrian relief, which features the tree of life motif, and the golden vine from this other relief.
For description and sources for Alexander’s Persianised royal outfit (basically: a purple tunic with a white middle) – The Royal Costume and Insignia of Alexander the Great (2012), Andrew W Collins.
Regarding Alexander’s character design, including the heterochromia, I talk about it more in this process post. This footnote is almost a mile long already!
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