Chapter 25

Akakios Tells his Story

The next morning we were still talking about Nitria and Kellia. Yarrl, had always lived in a city, so had never imagined that people might want to live alone, dispersed far and wide across the desert. And to think that some of the solitaries were women was also beyond his ken.

As for me, I had a hard time imagining such a life for either man or woman. Akakios looked at us and laughed at our puzzlement.

A little slower going this morning, the sand was so loose and deep we sank halfway to our knees at every step. And after we got through that we had to climb over several huge rock outcroppings to cross higher plateaus. Yarrl and I were moving slower and slower.

“I know it’s hard to walk and the land looks different; that’s because we’re in the Scetis now and will get there today.” We looked forward to the monastery, but what we wanted to know right now, was more about Akakios. We knew nothing of his past, only that he had military training; otherwise he was a mystery.

“Akakios, would you tell us about Greece?” Yarrl asked.

“And where you grew up?” I chimed in. “I’d like to know why you came to Alexandria, to the Library.”

He hesitated, and we could tell he didn’t care to talk about himself. But he was aware of how worn down we were and must have realized a little distraction would help us pass the time and move faster; so he began.

“I was born in a tiny village north of Athens. My father was a wealthy landowner warlord, but I never met him. I lived with my mother. She was a slave in the farm kitchen. She prepared and served meals to the eighteen farmhands who grew the food for everyone who worked or lived on my father’s lands. I started to help her in the kitchen as soon as I could walk good.

“What did you do?” Yarrl always wants details.

“I think I started with getting water for the cat and taking the garbage outside; then graduated to setting and clearing the table when I was tall enough.” He laughed at the memory. “Of course there was no money for an education, but my mother knew how to read and write and was determined that I should learn. First she drew the letters with a stick in the dirt. It was easy for me to copy her marks and remember what they meant. I liked learning; and soon we were on the lookout for discarded letters or texts, anything for practice.

“That’s amazing. I can’t believe you learned to write and read without going to school. I couldn’t have done that.” Yarrl’s voice was full of admiration.

“It took me a long time.” Akakios was a little embarrassed by the compliment. “And then it took a really long time to save enough money to buy the codex I wanted most. At last I found a used copy of ‘The Odyssey of Homer.’ I read it so many times I still remember most of it word for word. Eventually I had a copy of all his writings which I carried with me everywhere.”

That codex must have been his connection with the wider world; maybe it helped soften the ragged edges of his day-to-day reality.

“I never looked to the future until I was sixteen and got drafted to serve in my father’s defensive forces. That was lucky because military skills were useful, especially if you had no other talents. There was always a demand somewhere for military expertise. Let me tell you about that.” He smiled at each of us as he began to enjoy telling this story.

“You’d better.” I said, sending him a stern look. I’d always been curious about military life. “First I had to learn all the basic military tactics and survival skills with bow and sword. Then I qualified for an elite guard unit. It was one of the top ones. We had good food, uniforms and other benefits.” We could tell he was proud of his hard work and accomplishments.

“Soldiering was a steady job and that unit was known to be a valuable asset to the warlord. In addition to regular battles we went on special missions, sometimes to spy, sometimes to rescue a captured officer. In regular battles, soldiers were judged by number killed. Someone was always watching and counting and bonuses were based on the numbers. Bonuses might be an extra ration of wine, access to captured women or even pieces of silver. The best warriors got the most benefits.

“But after a few years things got rougher.” Akakios paused for a moment as if reliving something. “We were defending my father’s land against an invasion of Goths; and I got captured. Then they sold me to another Roman landowner.

“That’s terrible, what did you do?” Yarrl couldn’t imagine Akakios ever had setbacks; he was so smart and strong.

“Well, my luck changed again.” He gave us a triumphant glance. “The evening before I was to be transported. My guard fell asleep after dinner. So right after dark I killed him, put on his clothes and walked out of camp.” We both gave a whoop of congratulations.

“Unfortunately, that turned out to be the only part that was easy.” Akakios described his long, three-day walk that finally brought him to a small fishing village by the sea.

“The chief elder in that village liked my story, decided I looked reliable and hired me to protect the village from roving bandits and military deserters who were in that area looking for easy prey. Everything was shaky and uncertain then; besides the fighting, ordinary life was a hopeless mess. One occupying force had lost control; but the usurper hadn’t yet established a new government. The time between old and new was especially difficult for small farmers and tradesmen. Everything was in disarray, civil law and order had not been re-established. If village leaders survived, they had to regroup and figure out how to protect themselves and their people. If they didn’t, people had no one to turn to for help.

“The Goths had already extracted tax payments from the villagers. Collection was irregular and had been paid when due; but the village hadn’t received the promised security.

“I knew that once the conquering forces got organized and set up a system of rules and taxes, village life would return to some form of normal pretty fast. But since that hadn’t yet happened, I realized the Goths were not as well organized as the Romans. I thought I might be stuck there for a long time.” He grimaced as he remembered. “But when the seasons changed, it all went bad. A large group of desperate, military deserters made a surprise attack one night when the people were asleep. All the homes were destroyed and most of the people killed.

“I managed to escape in the midst of so much confusion and when I got to the shore, I found two villagers who’d also escaped. We took a fishing boat and headed toward the open sea where we drifted for a couple of days until a merchant ship rescued us.”

Aboard ship, the gods had once again smiled on Akakios when he met a book buyer from the Library at Alexandria who noticed he was always reading. The buyer approached and asked to see the small codex. Library buyers were always on the lookout for new items for the collections. This time his curiosity paid off for both men. Akakios was reading a copy of a second century BC recension written by a scholar at the earlier Great Library, and the buyer didn’t believe the Library had that version.

He had made a good bargain. He gave the codex to the buyer in exchange for passage to Alexandria and a job in the Library when they arrived.

“But Akakios, how did you happen to have a codex with you after all you’d been through?” Yarrl asked.

“Hah, you remember I said I always had a codex with me?” Akakios laughed. “When I went into the military, I couldn’t carry a big book, but I found a small codex I could keep in a pouch under my clothes. So it came all the way to Alexandria with me and I was proud to contribute to the collection.” We all had a good laugh.

“I truly enjoyed working in the Library and it was an honor to help protect Hypatia. She is a very great lady. I also enjoyed being able to read on a wide variety of subjects during my time there.”

 NEXT.....Chapter 26
Desert Monks