‘Alexander then moved on toward the city of Babylon whose occupants crowded the city walls in apprehension. All were convinced that their city was about to be sacked by the victorious Macedonians.’
‘In a misguided effort to save the city, Pagophanes the head of the city treasury, opened the gates and surrendered.’
‘He brought out with him the Sword of Gilgamesh and presented it to Alexander, explaining the nature of the gift and relating the story of its creation.’
‘Alexander readily accepted the sword and the city’s surrender, especially as he had no intention of sacking a valuable prize like Babylon.’
***
‘Across the Middle East on into India, Alexander and his army crushed all who stood in their way, and the Greek culture spread with it.’
‘Finally, Alexander turned for home, but he only travelled as far as Babylon. It seems life in the Persian capital was much to his liking and Alexander quickly adopted many of its fashions and way of life.’
‘But all his great deeds came to a sudden end when Alexander died on November the 6th, 323BC without an heir.’
‘Under normal circumstances war might have broken out amongst those in command of the Greek army to see who would succeed Alexander, but such was the discipline he had ingrained upon his men that his four commanders came together and agreed to divide the empire between them.’
‘Persia was given to Seleucis, whose descendants formed the Seleucid Empire. India and much of the lands to the east of Persia revolted and returned to local rulership, while Macedonia was claimed by Alexander’s family. The Greek cities formed themselves into leagues for their mutual defence under the control of competing generals.’
‘The final and most important part of Alexander’s empire was Egypt, and this was allocated to his most senior general, Ptolemy, who became the first in a line of Pharaohs lasting 300 years, all of whom were named Ptolemy and their women Cleopatra.’
‘With Ptolemy to Egypt went Alexander’s body as well as Gilgamesh’s sword of destiny.’
Chapter 7
Your story has been a wonderful concoction of legend and guesswork so far,’ commented Ilmann dryly, ‘I hope you haven’t been wasting our precious time on a fairy tale.’
‘Despite the little that is known about what has gone before we can assume that the legends are correct because from the time of Julius Caesar there are regular, if sometimes only passing mention of the existence of the sword. Plutarch and later Josephus wrote of it in their histories, and I believe that whoever possessed the sword made sure his heir was made aware of the swords great power and could relate its history, word for word.’
Ilmann was not convinced, ‘Continue,’ he said sharply.
***
‘Cleopatra VII, Pharaoh of Egypt, had a serious problem. She held that title along with her brothers but was in fear of her life. They wanted her out of the way and her options of obtaining support were almost non-existent.’
‘A normal ruler would be able to make an alliance, usually through marriage, to a more powerful king who would use their combined forces to destroy her foes. But a pharaoh was regarded as more than a mere ruler to their subjects. To the people of Egypt their pharaoh was the living conduit between mortal man and the gods themselves. As such they were thought to be immortal and divine.’
‘As a god Cleopatra could not be permitted by law to lower herself and form and alliance with any mere mortal. Only the union between herself and another god would be allowed.’
‘Unfortunately, the only other gods available at that time were her brothers, and as they were plotting her downfall at that very moment, an untimely death would be her only reward for such a union.’
‘All seemed lost for Cleopatra until word reached her of another who might prove to be her saviour.’
‘Julius Caesar’s armies had swept across the European landscape bringing all before him under the heel of Rome. An ivory likeness of this great general had been placed in the temple of Quirinius and was inscribed with the message, “To the invincible God.” He was the first Roman to replace the image of their gods upon the empire’s coins with his own likeness. Caesar took to wearing red shoes, a symbol of the ancient Roman kings and a temple had been dedicated to his family. The man had risen to the status of a god and now Cleopatra had a decision to make.’
‘If she formed an alliance with Caesar it would mean that her family would lose Egypt. After three hundred years the Ptolomy dynasty would cease to be the pharaohs and all control would be in the hands of the Roman government.’
‘However, she knew that Caesar had not produced a son, and if she were the one to do so then that son might one day rule not only Egypt but as Cesar’s heir, the entire Roman Empire.’
‘The choice for Cleopatra was clear, to remain where she was and suffer certain death at the hands of her brothers, or go to Caesar with the chance of one day ruling the world.’
‘And as a result, she used her feminine wiles to gain access to Caesar. Along with her went the Sword of Gilgamesh, which she duly presented as a gift to the man who was to become her lover.’
***
‘For his part Julius Caesar was far more interested in the vast area of fertile soil that the beautiful Cleopatra presented to him in the shape of the kingdom of Egypt than any sword of dubious history.’
‘Rome was ever expanding under his rule and Caesar had much need of the grains produced along the Nile River.’
‘The sword was a mere trifle. What use did the most powerful man in the world have for such a thing? He was, after all, omnipotent, a god.’
‘Unknown to Cleopatra, in a moment of good humour he called for his sister’s son Octavius, and passed the sword to the boy while telling the intelligent youth the history of the weapon. “You may need its power one day,” he said laughingly.’
‘Without an official son of his own, Caesar had already nominated Gaius Octavius as his heir in 45BC and the boy had been renamed Gaius Julius Caesar to reflect this honour’
‘As his heir Caesar realized that if he couldn’t overcome the forces that were rallying against him at that time, the boy’s life might be at risk.’
‘However, Caesar was confident that there would never be a man in Rome who was strong enough to stand against him.’
***
‘True to her plans, Cleopatra gave birth to a son whom she named Caesarion, and set out to raise him as the future Emperor of Rome.’
‘Caesar and Cleopatra had married but the Senate refused to recognize the marriage because Cleopatra was already married to her brother in the Egyptian fashion. Besides which, the leaders of Rome had no wish to accept a mere foreigner into the ruling classes of their society.’
‘This was a setback to Cleopatra’s plans but she had confidence that, in time, she could overcome the difficulties and that her son would eventually take his rightful
