Date: Tue, 2 Feb 2010 23:11:10 -0700
From: dnrock@rock.com
Subject: Arden 51

Arden
by:  dnrock(dnrock@rock.com)

Just in, across your author's desk today 2/2/10: 2000 year old bones in
Italy reveal east Asian ancestry.  This find was in the southwest part of
the country. Just a reminder to the reader much of the scholarship related
to plot is more sound then you may imagine.  In several popular press
articles, this find seems to be a surprise to many
archeologists/anthropologists.  It is no surprise to me and should not be
to you.  As I recall the Asian character is not due to show up for a few
chapters yet.  You will remember Arden is quite well acquainted with rice
and tea. It should be remembered that Alexander the Great brought more then
rice from Asia and trade between Asia and the Mediterranean is even older
then that.  Only North America and Australia were unknown to the Greeks and
other by at least ±400 BCE.


51: The Weddings


1319, 9th month, day 19:

We four met with the General and Raffaele.  The General is preparing a text
book on defensive strategies.  It has three parts: one is a historical
review of famous battles from the defensive view; the middle section on
methods, arms, structures, geography and so on; the third on how to analyze
ones position and apply the first two sections.  For Parga he is writing a
separate companion book that looks only at Parga and is written only for
our military.  It's last section will make specific recommendations.  Iason
asked him to include a discussion to when or how to identify the need to
modernize arms and strategies that result from new or improved weapons.
The General agreed and indicated adding other advances like signaling would
be a good idea.

Kastor thought he should work with the General and Raffaele on a separate
treaties that examines how to identify when preemptive strikes might be
useful, what follow up would be required, why and thirdly the role of
military power in our foreign affairs.

"Well it is often said the best defense is a strong offense," the General
said.  "I don't always recommend that and for a small state like Parga,
probably never.  If a small or weak state needs, it had best to strike
first, fast and hard.  I take it you are examining the possibility of some
preemptive action against the pirates?"

Yes, that thought has crossed my mind more than once but not so much
preemptive as punitive.  "I saw the account of the kidnapper's trial.  I
assume Bejaia is your target?"  We do not believe they will respect our
sovereignty until they respect our military power and our ability to apply
it directly against them.

"You are quite correct in that belief.  I assure you that is the case.
Naples and Sicily suffer from just that lack of respect.  In their
situations it is real.  The cost is much to high for the expected return.
In Parga's situation, what reward do you expect?"

Poly replied, "We expect them to realize not respecting our sovereignty
will cost them dearly and not just in ships far removed from their sight."

We plan a three component attack.  First we will lay waste to Bejaia and
destroy every ship or boat in their harbor.  Second we will tell the world
just what we have done.  Third we will invite others to follow us, closely
enough to make advantage of it.  I would like to see some other power come
in behind us and plunder the place.

"I see you plan to sail to Bejaia, burn it down and sail away.  That would
leave them open to attack from others, being weakened sufficiently."

"Yes, that is the essence of it," Iason said.

"I take it you plan to use those rockets?"

We outlined our plan.  All the while Raffaele sat quietly.  When we had
finished he spoke.  "I am amazed that you four are so vindictive and
punitive against the people of Bejaia.  That is not like you.  Surely there
is another way or a modification of your plan, to direct the punishment
where it belongs."

"Raffaele is correct but for the wrong reason.  It is not vindictiveness
that presses your punitive action.  It is the need to demonstrate your
power, since that is all these people seam to understand and once getting
their attention, your proposed solution can and will be fairly considered.
The velvet glove over the iron fist.  Right now they see only the velvet
glove, they need realize the iron fist is inside that glove.  They now
realize a straight on attack is doomed to failure.  It was foolish for them
to have even attempted it.

I see four military targets, three strong points and the pirate galleys.
You need only send two or three Prince Class ships.  The long boats can
cary the skimmers and archers to the breakwater.  The Prince Class ships
can launch rockets against the three strong points.  Let us examine them:
The towers at the shore end of the breakwater can be attacked in two ways.
First aim rockets to drop down on the tower from above, this will set the
roof on fire.  Second, rockets directed against the doorway, once a fire is
started and the door is breached, the tower will become a chimney.  If your
aim is good, 6 or 7 rockets will do the trick.  The second strong point is
the customs house.  Use the rockets against this at point blank range, as
if another ship.  10 to 14 rockets should reduce it to smoldering rubble.
Do not try and drop rockets from above.  To many will miss.  The third is
the Sultan's castle.  You need not do anything more than hit it repeatedly,
with as many rockets as possible in the time available.  Some may miss and
hit non military targets but this will be minor and unavoidable.  The
people of Bejaia will realize this.  It is important that these people
believe you are only trying to attack military targets and not them.
Showing that you can confine your wrath to military targets and deliver
your power from a distance, will be sufficient.  As to the pirate ships let
the skimmers do their job on them.  If all are not sunk no great loss.  The
fishing boats and foreign merchants are of no interest anyway.  If their
galleys can not prevail against Prince Class ships, they would be totally
foolish to even try with smaller.

You must not make it to easy for others to follow you, as tempting as this
may be.  If others are not prepared to do this on their own, they are not
prepared to make good or full use of your opportunity.  You must consider
this as a raid and nothing more," the General counseled.

"And if they still do not get the message."  Poly asked?

"Then you go back again and this time you destroy the Castle, not just
damage it.  And if that fails you destroy the town.  From the foreign
relations point of view you will have gained nothing by destroying the
town.  The critical point here is a measured response to their provocations
or lack of response.  Archimedes can build special rockets that are capable
of delivering great damage to a structure like the sultan's castle.  You
must remember that should this happen, others will soon copy it and even
your castle could become a target.  My sense is, few have the foresight or
skills to build these.  If you show them the way however, many are very
good followers.

The publication of each step or stage is important.  These sultans are a
most prideful group.  They also depend on support from within and from
without, to stay in power.  They dare not appear to be weak or impotent.
They can often be goaded into action.  I know you have tried to do this, it
has just been the wrong action."

Kastor told him about our current little prank.  The General did not feel
it would accomplish much toward our final objective; it could cause some
difficulties for the Crown Prince if he was behind the kidnapping attempt
and certainly for who ever it was if he wasn't.  "If not the Crown Prince,
I would guess who ever it was will loose his head.  First rule of service,
never embarrass your leader." [TN: I used Crown Prince here and above in
references to the Sultan's oldest son.  Arden used oldest son but he means
the next in line or Crown Prince.]

"In any event, I think it best that everyone be on extra guard for the next
few weeks.  It would not surprise me at all if the sultan or his minions
try to embarrass Parga by somehow disrupting the weddings." Raffaele said.

You mean another opportunity for us to reverse the situation and give
greater embarrassment to him.  Everyone laughed at my joke but the advice
is sound and will be acted on.

We then speculated on what action Bejaia might try to take against us.  We
would immediately begin guarding the Ganymede statue.  This is something
the Argoanuts can do.


1319, 9th month, day 21:

The little stealth fleet returned late this afternoon.  They accomplished
their mission with only one minor problem.  Panther and Corrado reported to
us.  The four teams left 35 copies of the document at: mosques, coffee
shops, markets and any place people will gather.  On the gate to the palace
of all places, they painted "Prince Arden watches you" and they hung my
ensign on the customs house flag pole.  At other places they painted "Parga
Knows" or "Parga sees all".

The moon was almost full so they had reasonable light to move about.  They
were able to do all that was needed in two hours.  They encountered almost
no one and those they did see went about their business as did our members.
All were dressed in local costume and as long as the Greek speakers let the
other do any talking, they looked like young men out on the town.

The one minor problem occurred on the way back to the boats, they
encountered several solders viciously beating a man.  These solders were
making much noise and not paying attention to other then themselves, our
marines snuck up on them.  The marines promptly killed the solders and
brought the victim, a run away slave, with them.  He is recovering from his
wounds.

Hadi came later, his report was much less formal and much more emotional.
He told me the salve was just 15 and had run away from a very cruel master.
Eparchos Corrado told him he could neither leave that boy to be killed by
the solders and could not leave the solders alive to raise an alarm.  The
marines simply snuck up and three, acting as one jumped out and slit their
throats.  The Argoanuts are caring for him.  He was so badly beaten that
the marines had to cary him.  Two of them took his arms and legs and ran
all the way to the beach.  Something I could not do, all I carried were
some of the dead solders weapons.  Hadi was much impressed and expressed a
desire to become an Elite Marine.  I assured him he would have an
opportunity to test for them at 18.  "The adventure was good and being at
sea again was also good, coming home to Parga was the best of all."  I
think Hadi should be transferred to Lyuben's house and train with him.  I
know it is Lyuben's desire to be the next Eparchos of the Elite Marines, he
will drag all that are willing with him.


1319, 9th month, day 23:

On the 22nd day Odo took time away from the wedding and composed a long
epic poem about the Stealth Mission and its purpose.

We have lost Iason's assistance for the next couple of weeks, as his
attention is focused on the weddings.  Lugo and Dario arrived this
afternoon.  We princes are all sitting for the new family portrait, which
will include all the princess and Alexandros.  Fortunately we only needed
to spend a short time all together being sketched.  Each person is painted
separately and then combined into the huge painting that will hang in the
castle.

Large delegations from Venice, Florence, Genoa, Naples, Athens and
Byzantium are all due to arrive in the next two weeks.  All of the Prince
class ships will be at sea on patrol.  The Princess Class ships will be
along our shores and greeting all visitors before they enter the harbor.
Any that are suspect or carrying sickness are being directed to the salt
gathering islands.  Since we have limited harbor space, many of the large
ships that wish to stay for any length of time, will need do so in the
outer harbor.

Iason has had our fancy clothing refurbished and those that did not have
them now do.  This includes all the princes.  Even Lysandros.  I must say
he is proud to dress like his older brothers, Umar and the other boys, like
daddy and Uncles.

The boy's choir and the other palace choirs are all getting ready.

Weddings are very important things in all societies, no less so in Parga.
For a young girl, marriage rites marked three phases: separation from her
family (oikos), transition to a new home, and integration into her new
roles as daughter and wife within a new family.  For Sophia it also means
she takes on special status in the castle and state.  She changed from (a
parthenos), a maiden, to (a nymphe), a married woman without children, when
she married and then finally to (a gyne), an adult woman, when she bore her
first child.  For Sophia she also becomes a princess, for Eudoxia she is
still a princess but now has the added duties of wife and soon mother.
(TN: I have included some of the Greek nouns as they often cary a deeper
meaning than the translated term.)

The entire set of marriage rites focused on the bride and her relocation to
a new family and home, the most important transition in her life.  A
typical marriage consisted of Several parts.  The ceremony itself was
marked by the physical transfer of the bride to her new home.  Obviously
not in this event or for either of these women.  Eudoxia will continue to
live in the castle for some time yet and Sophia is already here.  The
wedding is a process that takes several days, affectes much of the
community and affirmes new relationships both inside and outside her former
family.  Again a little different for these two.  We will compress it into
two days and the transfer from one family to another and one home to
another, will be symbolic.

In preparation, the bride will spend a final few days with her mother and
female relatives, friends and servants preparing for her wedding at her
father's house. This pre-wedding ritual is one of the few events in which
women were allowed to participate and celebrate actively.  Here at the
castle things are a little different but the women will all have a chance
to spend that time together, without us men.

To begin, a ceremony and feast would be held at the house of the bride's
father.  The bride would make various offerings to different gods; the
offerings would generally include her childhood clothing and toys.  This
act served two purposes for the bride.  It signified the separation of the
bride from her childhood, freeing her to enter a new life; and it
established a bond between her and the deities who she hoped would provide
protection for her during the transition to her new life.  In modern Parga,
some do and some don't make these offerings.  Sophia and Eudoxia will make
symbolic offerings at places of worship as they choose.  We man are not
involved in this.  The feast in this case will be at the castle, with Sir
Sosigenes and Father as co-hosts.

 In the old days sacrifices to Atriums, goddess of virginity and of
transition, would likely include locks of hair, in the hope that she would
ease the bride's passage from virginity.  On occasion the bride would
sacrifice to Hera as the exemplar of the divine bride. The bride and groom
would both make offerings to Aphrodite for a fruitful, child-rearing life.
If the bride or groom was unable, for some reason to make the ceremony, the
bride's father or, in some instances, her mother would perform the ritual
instead. The wedding ceremony's focus on the bride's passage to marriage
and her sexual initiation to become clarified during the following two
days.  Today if this is done, it is in privet, as the state is secular in
all ways.

The actual wedding day, begins with a nuptial bath, in the women's
quarters.  We are a very clean people, are we not.  Outside the castle
water is drawn from a river or spring and carried in (a loutrophoros), a
vase shape reserved for funerary purposes ... used mainly as a grave
marker.  Now why this, I have no idea and the scholars could offer little
but speculation.  It is just the tradition handed down for thousands of
years.

(TN: During the fifth century its purpose seems to have been confined to
ritual uses, such as weddings (where it was frequently used to carry the
water for the bridal bath) or the funeral of an unmarried person. Vases of
this shape are commonly decorated with scenes of mourners or wedding
processions.)

A specially appointed child carried the bath water, which was thought to
provide a purification of the bride as well as to induce fertility, showing
that the bride and her sexual initiation were the focus of this aspect of
the ceremony.  Here a small vase is ceremoniously carried by a young girl,
Melitta in this instance, from the lake to the ladies bathing pool.

The bride will then dress in the same room in which she bathed. The most
important part of the bride's costume is the veil, which symbolized her
virginity and is not removed until she is handed over to the groom.  The
bride would have a (numpheutria), a bridal helper, who, with the bride's
mother and other women, would preside over the preparations for the meal
and sacrifices, and who would accompany the bride to the banquet hall.
There, sacrifices would be offered to the gods of marriage by both the
bride and groom.  I am to help Iason and two of the female pages will
assist Eudoxia and Sophia along with their mothers, my birth mother, Lady
Lucia and I have no idea how many others.  It will be a large group.

The preparations for the meal are in the hands of our stewards.  As far as
I know Iason has no plans to sacrifice anything to any god, I believe he is
planning on some symbolic sacrifice to any and all gods, not naming
specific ones.

The wedding feast will follow, most often the feast would be given by the
bride's father, but it could also be given by the groom's father or even
the groom himself in certain situations. Regardless, both families would
attend.  Guests at the feast would include the couple's friends, who would
serve as witnesses.  In the old days, this was one of the few public events
women were permitted to attend, men and women sat at different tables.  Not
in Parga, we are more modern and we sit together and dance together.  We
have many public events and festivals shared by men and women.  It is one
of the best ways for boys and girls to meet and get acquainted.

Delicacies, such as sesame seeds mixed with honey, will be available.  I
look forward to this as it is my favorite.

Entertainment is normally provided by professional singers. The songs play
a very important role in the ceremony, encouraging the couple in their new
relationship and future children as well as complimenting the couple
through comparisons with the gods.  Here we will sing and play and we will
have professionals and amateurs and in some instances all will join in.  I
am sure Iason has this well planned.

A libation is offered at the beginning of the songs. Towards the end of the
feast in the evening comes the most important part of the ceremony, (the
anakalupteria), the unveiling of the bride.  This act is significant
because the bride is handed over to the groom.

The procession from the bride's house to her new home then begins.  An
amphithales, a male child with both parents still alive, is chosen to
escort the bride.  He represented prosperity and good luck for the couple,
and symbolizes their eventual child. The amphithales distributes bread to
the guests; the bread is another symbol of the final product of this union,
a child; furthermore, the basket in which the bread is carried represented
the ancient baby cradle.  The amphithales also utters the words "I fled
worse and found better," and he wares a crown of thorns and nuts, reminding
the couple of the threatening proximity of wild nature, as the acorn was
the food of primitive man while the winnowing fan or basket suggested
implements of civilized agriculture.

For us this is all changed.  We will have a large party and feast with
singing, music, dancing the so on.  The amphithales is not used and the
bride will not be escorted anywhere as she is already home.  Father will
say some words to both couples and pronounce the sanction or blessing of
their union.  He will bless their union and so will Sir Sosigenes and King
Iason.  Each father will present his daughter to her husband.  That is when
the vales are lifted.  Then we eat a meal and drink and dance and sing
more.  Toward the end of the evening we brothers and guardians escort the
couples to the door of their quarters.

On the next day we will have another large party where the couples will
greet all the guests and again we will feast, drink, dance and sing
together.  Our traditions have much more to them but non applies here.  For
us men and women, when we were bound, it was much simpler.  We had a big
feast.  We simply stood and declared our love for each other and asked our
guests to witness it.  We received blessings from our Fathers and Uncle.

I know that Iason is planning a large production on the second day.  I
suspect that is when the bagpipers and trumpets will be used.  If I know
him he will stage some kind of grand entrance for both couples and then
hold court.  As I wrote before, this will be a ballizien like no other.  I
also believe he is planning to have the Argoanuts escort both couples in a
procession through the town singing and playing the marching songs Odo
wrote for the national wedding day, this is how things get started.  If
there are other weddings to take place at this time they too will be part
of the procession, I am sure of it.

Many other weddings will be happening in the city and the country at the
same time.  Some at churches and temples, privet homes, public squares and
so on.


1319, 9th month, day 24:

I have asked the scholars to recorded in some detail the customs of Parga
as related to things like weddings, funerals and other celebrations.  In
these journals I have often captured some of the these or my opinion of
them.  I know many have not been discussed.  I think it important for us as
a society, to make records of our practices and the meanings of the
symbols.  Our modern state is not the same as our great grandfathers.  I
think it much different in their time than their great grandfather's, too.

I fear that if we fail to recorded such things, our children will find
themselves wondering why this or that has become traditional.  Because
something is a tradition does not mean or should not mean, it must not
changed.  It is important to know the what and the why, so important parts
can be preserved and non important parts can be modified or discarded.  In
other places the traditions have often been replaced by invaders or new
religions.  This leaves the people with no foundation.  A sovereign people
need know where they came from and how they got to where they are.  Only
then can they judge the usefulness or importance of things in their lives.
In the life of the society.