ART THREE: Exeunt (1085-1087)
Selections from Alexius of Thrace (1601). While this play— whose authorship remains unattested— is generally seen by scholars as having little literary merit, it nonetheless is valuable for the insight it provides into how Western Europe saw Alexios I Komnenos in later generations. The anonymous author obviously used the Alexiad as a source, but often interpreted the events depicted in it quite differently than Iouliana Komnene did. I believe, however, that we should exercise caution in ascribing political motives to the playwright’s deviation from his or her sources. Alexius of Thrace would have been seen by its creators as entertainment first, with the dramaturgical trumping the historical whenever the two came in conflict.
Enter ARNI, a NORSEMAN
ARNI
My emperor, your armies have won you the day and the Duke of Epirus is o’erthrown.
Many men have their lives laid down for you; let their sacrifices be not in vain.
Yet your labour’s not yet done: The hated Turk grows in strength with each passing day.
For the moment, though, the advantage still rests with Byzantium.
So I implore thee, then, to strike now, lest Anatolia slip forever away.
ALEXIUS
You may hail from the icy north, Varangian, but your heart burns hot for revenge.
We must be patient, we must wait, we too must pause to gather strength.
ARNI
We have fought long and hard to make this empire whole,
Yet the job remains half-done. Strike now!
You speak of gathering strength; I say we have strength enough.
It was the Duke of Epirus and his false Prince who were brought low by Fortune.
Did your armies possess not the strength to defeat them?
ALEXIUS
They did, yet in every victory we won there lay the shadow of defeat.
In your war Greek fought Greek, and those slain on both sides sapped the empire’s strength.
Flourish. Enter HERALD
HERALD
Most noble and pious emperor, beloved and deserving king of the Greeks,
I bear a message from your loyal and honorable vassals.
They implore you for your royal mercy.
IRENE
Who does?
HERALD
His Grace the Duke of Dyrrachion, His Grace the Duke of Moesia, His Grace the Duke of Cherson…
IRENE
Ah! The very flower of the nobility.
HERALD
Their Graces are repentant for their infidelity, my lords and ladies,
Yet they dread the gloomy dungeons of Constantinople.
They ask not for clemency, merely humane consideration in the terms of their confinement.
ARNI
This impudence demands punishment! Let skewers through their eyes be their “humane consideration”.
ALEXIUS
No, I shall grant them this small mercy.
Peace may be won through strength of arms in the field,
Yet fear alone is unequal to the task of governance.
The empire has been reunited; yet now it must be ruled,
Lest our victories be a castle built on sand
ALEXIUS
O cursed bees! Their stingers rend my flesh!
ARNI
But perhaps they too are owed your humane consideration. He exits.
Enter MATHILDE, a Norman DUCHESS, with her retainers, guards, &c.
MATHILDE
I bring news most dire; the spectre of war has descended upon Sicily.
False Messina claims dominion o’er my rightful lands.
Sicily answered your call for help when Epirus coveted your crown.
Let that debt be now repaid.
ARNI
In our war but half a crown was won,
The false sultan of Rum yet remains.
To ALEXIUS. We cannot help her.
ALEXIUS
Do you propose, then, that I break my oath?
That the alliance between Sicily and Byzantium be shattered?
ARNI
Sicily’s contributions to our war were slight,
A few hundred men and nothing more.
It matters not what they think of us.
ALEXIUS
Should we forsake our oath, Norseman, we would dishonor ourselves not merely to Sicily,
but through infidelity ruin our good name in all Christendom.
Remember the Princess Theodora, now queen of Alania.
Or my brother Nikephoros, betrothed to the daughter of King Germany.
No, our obligations must be fulfilled.
ARNI
I warned you, emperor, that the Turkish sun rises higher by the hour.
Now while your host prepares to sail for Sicily comes news from the west:
The crusade for Jerusalem has failed, and the cradle of our faith remains in heathen hands.
ALEXIUS
See how easily our victories are won?
Messina has been defeated by but a fraction of our host.
Our Christian oaths are upheld without harming our chances against the Turk.
ARNI
We fight not against Messina alone, but Croatia too.
ALEXIUS
The Croatians fight on behalf of tiny Messina.
With it in our hands, the enemy’s will is broken.
Enter APOTHECARY.
APOTHECARY
My Queen, there is nothing to be done.
The Prince’s sickness quickened; all my tender ministrations were for nought.
IRENE
I must write to my husband and prepare to address the people of the city.
We must tell them the bleak truth that the Price Theodorus lies dead.
ALEXIUS
We have won another war, Arni, but the sweet taste of victory is but ashes in my mouth.
Sicily is saved and our reputation in all the courts of Europe preserved.
Yet still: My son is dead.
ARNI
I grieve alongside you, Emperor.
But remember well that you are also the father of all Greeks.
Think now of your children suffering under the Turkish yolk.
They clamor for a liberation that is only yours to give.
ARNI
From all corners of Greece men and women gather with treasure and arms.
The time for reluctance is long past— you must go to war now.
ALEXIUS
I see I have no choice. You shall get your war, Norseman.
Yet remember too the price of glory:
The tragedy of a child’s death repeated a thousandfold.