A Marriage for Mysticus
"What do you think?" Alexander looked at us anxiously as we strolled up the Lecheae Road.
I grinned at him. "Oh come on, Alexander. The body being raised from the grave. That's ridiculous and you know it. Haven't you taken in anything old Athenodorus teaches?"
"What about the rest of it?" Alexander asked.
"For my part," Lucias spoke slowly, "I'm quite prepared to believe that this Jesus was a god in human form. It would not be the first time such a thing has happened141."
"But in Judea?" I protested.
"Why not?" Lucias sounded serious. "The gods are present everywhere. Even if the Jews don't believe in them there are others who do: I believe that there is a large sanctuary to Pan at Caesarea Philippi142 and other temples elsewhere."
"But he can't have been our god!" Alexander sounded shocked. "Our god wouldn't become a man."
"Oh no," Lucias hastened to agree. "He would have been a demi-god of some sort and that would explain this business of coming to life again. As a god, of course, he didn't really die. He just appeared to die."
"What about the spear through the heart?" I pointed out.
"Just appeared to be through the heart. You can't kill a god, but if a god can appear to be a human, it wouldn't be hard to appear to be crucified or stabbed or whatever."
We argued amicably all the way back to the city. I suggested a quick visit to the gymnasium, but when Alexander refused143 we abandoned that idea and carried on to the agora, where the clang of the bronzesmiths' hammers made conversation almost impossible. I reported to my father at the shop and then we watched the men at their tables playing draughts ouside the fountain of Pirene144 until it was time for the evening meal.
"Everything go well, little lord?" Antiochus greeted me.
"No problems, Antiochus."
"The meal is ready, little lord."
"Thanks, Antiochus. Can you send for my girl?"
During the evening meal Cartimandua sat at the end of my couch, picking at her food and avoiding all contact with me. Several times I saw my mother glance across at us and set her lips in a firm line of disapproval. I positively welcomed the interruption when Antiochus appeared in the doorway.
"Yes, Antiochus?" my father asked.
"There's a visitor for Lord Arxes, lord."
"Another one!" I propped myself up on my couch. "Who is it this time?"
"Lord Lucias, little lord."
"Lord Lucias!" I exclaimed. "What does he want? Hurry up, Antiochus, go get him."
"Lucias!" I rose to greet my friend and conducted him to my couch. "Sit down. Cartimandua, go get something for Lord Lucias to drink."
I rather hoped that Lucias would notice my beautiful, fair-haired girl, but he sat slumped on the couch, his head between his hands. When Cartimandua returned with a crater145 of wine he took it from her mechanically and put it on the table without even tasting it.
"What's wrong, Lucias?" I looked over at my father and raised my eye-brows.
"Yes, lad, cheer up. Nothing in life is ever that bad and if we can help in any way we will. Any friend of my son's is a friend of this house."
"Thank you, sir," Lucias looked up briefly and acknowledged my father. "I fear that there is nothing you can do for me. It's a disaster."
"What's a disaster?" I demanded, sitting down beside my friend.
Lucias groaned, grabbed the crater and drained it.
"You remember what I told you yesterday?"
"No," I told him frankly. "You talked an awful lot yesterday and for some reason my mind wasn't in the best condition for remembering things."
"About Mysticus."
"Oh, her." I turned to my parents. "Lucias told me yesterday that he is in love with Mysticus, daughter of Euryalus."
"I know her," my mother nodded. "She's quite a beauty."
"So what's wrong?" I prodded Lucias sharply as he seemed about to put his head between his hands again. "Cartimandua, fetch some more wine."
"Is it safe to talk?" Lucias raised his head and looked around the room, for the first time noticing Cartimandua who was holding the refilled crater out to him.
"Sure," I assured him. "Cartimandua won't say a word if I tell her not to. Anyway, she doesn't speak much Greek, I only got her the other day."
There was still no reaction from Lucias, who had obviously forgotten all about my very own slave girl. He took the crater and drained it for the second time, prompting a worried look on my father's face.
"Steady on, lad. You'll be too drunk to tell us your problems if you're not careful."
"Sorry, sir." Lucias put the crater down on the table with exaggerated carefulness. "It's - it's my father, sir, Arxes."
"What about your father?" I hope I didn't sound as exasperated as I felt. "Is he ill? Is he dead?"
Lucias shook his head. "I wish to the gods that he was."
We all gasped at such a terrible wish and Lucias seemed to realise what he had said.
"No, no. Of course I don't wish that. He's a good father." He buried his face in his hands and from between his fingers continued his tale. "Look, you know that my mother died last year."
I nodded to show that I remembered and felt sympathy.
"Well, my father has finally decided to take another wife."
I nodded again. It was only to be expected that a busy and important man like Varrus Corfidius Tubero would marry again, if only to have someone to run his household for him.
"Who's the lucky girl?" I asked.
"Mysticus."
There was a stunned silence in the room as I exchanged glances with my parents. Even Cartimandua seemed shocked, her eyes wide and staring above her open mouth.
"He ought to be ashamed of himself," Lucias burst out, "marrying a girl as young as that. She's young enough146 to be his daughter - no, his grand-daughter."
"Poor Lucias," my mother sympathised while my father and I nodded our agreement. "Did your father know how you felt about the girl?"
Lucias shook his head. "No, lady. I was going to get good marks in my studies this year and then speak to him about her. Now it's too late."
"It's never too late," my mother did her best to comfort my friend. "Anything might turn up, for the gods often smile on lovers."
"When is the wedding to be?" I asked, trying to be practical.
"In a month's time."
"Well," I said, "I'll offer prayers to our lady Venus every day. She always looks kindly on lovers, perhaps she will work to change your father's mind."
"Thanks," Lucias looked up at us all. "It's all I can think of. Actually, I've already arranged to sacrifice a kid in the temple of Artemis tomorrow morning. Care to come?"
"I'll be there," I promised. "Anything to help a friend."
"I've also vowed to dedicate a girl to the goddess147 if she answers my prayers."
I whistled. "That'll be expensive!"
"But worth it," Lucias grinned. "Mind you, I didn't say when I would dedicate the girl. The goddess might have to wait quite a while before I can afford to buy one."
There was a lot more conversation. Mother wanted to know all about how he had first met and fallen in love with Mysticus and whether she knew about his feelings. Father coughed awkwardly and promised to have a word with Euryalus and see if the marriage contract had been finalised and if not, to put in a good word for Lucias. After all, the girl was more Lucias' age and her family might well prefer a match with the son rather than the father. Cartimandua fetched more wine, though I found an excuse to leave the room and instruct her to mix it with plenty of water. Finally Lucias stood up.
"Thank you, sir, lady. Thanks, Arsh . . . Arxesh. I'd better be going home. Need to sleep." He swayed slightly and frowned, trying to focus his eyes. He giggled and took an uncertain step. "Musht be drunk. Drink lotsha drinks. Before. Lotsha drinks. Lotsh."
"I'll see you home." I stepped forward and took his arm. "Cartimandua, go and get a torchbearer."
"Yes, my lord." She hesitated in the doorway and then came back and stood directly in front of Lucias. "Lord, I not tell anyone what you say."
Lucias nodded as she left the room and then looked at me, his brows contracted in puzzlement. "Who's tha' girl?"
"She's my slave girl," I told him. "Father bought her for me."
Lucias nodded some more. "Nice. Nice girl. Nice. Like My. . . like Mysti. . . like other girl."
My father stood up. "I'd better get a couple of slaves to help you," he said. "He's in no condition to walk home."
141 Greek gods commonly appeared in human form: Zeus was always adopting different guises in order to seduce human women, and Hermes, the messenger of the gods, usually accompanied him on these expeditions.
The Romans also had such a belief and it became somewhat of a stock situation in drama. In the Amphitryo by Plautus, Jupiter and his son Mercury (the Roman equivalents of Zeus and Hermes) visit a mortal woman, Jupiter posing as her husband Amphitryo and Mercury as one of the household slaves. Jupiter seduces the woman who gives birth to twin sons, one the child of Jupiter, the other the son of Amphitryo. The divine child is Herakles. Return
142 The shrine of Pan, at the start of the Jordan River, still exists and has given its name to the neighbouring town of Banias. It is now an Israeli national nature park, which would, no doubt, please Pan. Return
143 Jews did not usually take part in gymnastic exercises, which were conducted in the nude, because of sensitivity about their circumcised state. 1 Maccabees 1:13-15 records that in the time of Antiochus IV, "Certain of the people were so forward herein" (in copying heathen practices) "that they went to the king, who gave them licence to do after the ordinances of the heathen: whereupon they built a place of exercise at Jerusalem according to the customs of the heathen and made themselves uncircumcised and forsook the holy covenant and joined themselves to the heathen and were sold to do mischief." This raised the interesting question of whether someone who had undergone surgery to give him the appearance of being uncircumcised was still a Jew. Return
144 Euripides' play Medea is set in Corinth and one of the characters mentions "I'd gone over to the draughtsboards, you know the spot, where the old fellows sit and play, round Pirene's holy spring." (p. 50) The game in question is most unlikely to have been draughts (or checkers as the Americans call it) as we know it but a similar game played with counters on a board. Return
145 A krater was a shallow bowl on a stand in which wine was served. Return
146 Marriage could - and did - take place a ridiculously young ages. In the Babylonian Talmud, tractate Baba Kama there is some discussion on the question of when a girl 'came of age' and the general conclusion was that she came of age when she had two pubic hairs. Unfortunately the learned Rabbis failed to clarify what length these hairs should be . . . Return
147 Strabo, in his Geography VIII.vi.20 reports that "The temple of Aphrodite was so rich that it owned more than a thousand temple-slaves, courtesans, whom both men and women had dedicated to the goddess, and therefore it was also on account of these women that the city was crowded with people and grew rich. For instance, the ship-captains freely squandered their money and hence the proverb, 'Not for every man is the voyage to Corinth.'" This, it should be noted, referred to the pre-Roman city, which was destroyed in 146 BC but it is likely that the Roman city was similarly endowed. Return
