Having seized control of a ship, Eodan must decide where to go:
Narbonensis is too thickly settled;
most European Mediterranean coasts are Roman controlled;
Mauretania is too far west (dig the reference to "Mauri");
Numidia is too close to "'...Carthage, where Romans dwell.'" (p. 132);
Tripolis and Cyrenaica are mostly deserts;
they cannot sail around Gaul to Jutland because the Atlantic would be too rough for their ship;
Phyrne suggests the Nile delta or a small Egyptian harbor, from there to enter the cosmopolitan city of Alexandria by foot, then to travel east by ship or caravan, e.g., Eodan and Hwicca to return home via the Cimmerian Bosporus and the northern barbarian countries.
Eodan goes with Phryne's idea.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Ah, "Quo vadis?", which reminds me of the legend about how St. Peter, fleeing the persecution of Nero in Rome, met and asked Christ that question. The Lord told Peter he was ENTERING Rome to be crucified again. A shamed Peter then turned around and returned to Rome and accepted his martyrdom. Another story says the first of the Popes asked his executioners to be crucified up side down, because Peter felt unworthy of being executed the same way as the Lord.
I never thought before of how the name "Mauretania" could remind some of Anderson's Mauri!
Sean
Sean,
And, according to the linked Wikipedia article, Roman names for the Mauretanians included "the Maurai."
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
And the "Maurai" can remind some of Anderson's Mauri!
And Eodan and his companions could not just sail around Gaul, because they would have to first sail around Iberia!
So Eodan did give some thought about going to Egypt and Alexandria!
I'm not sure it would have been a good idea for Eodan and Hwicca to have returned to Jutland, if that had been what happened. For one thing, there tribe or nation had been destroyed. Also, other tribes must have occupied Jutland in years since the Cimbri left, and I seriously doubt they would have accepted Eodan and Hwicca.
Settling down for good in Alexandria might have been the best scenario for Eodan and his companions. But Anderson had other ideas!
Ad astra! Sean
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