Chapter 11: A Code to Live By

THE RIVER VALLEY was a rich land with plentiful crops and many sheep and goats. As was typical of a land of plenty, the people were stingy. It seems no matter where you travel, the poor are always willing to help the poor. The rich are unwilling to help anyone unless they think that person might be a benefit to them. Present company excluded, of course. I’m sure you are a generous person who often helps others and only elects representatives who are guided by the same principles.

I solved my problem by pulling my horse and chariot out of the bag, and traveled by road instead of looking like a river rat. Of course, it wasn’t the same horse I had in Bathra. That good steed had died years before I left the city-state. This was one of his progeny, raised and kept in the infinity room his whole life. Nimia and Josie dressed me in fine clothes, left over from the royal court. They were a little out of fashion, but being considered eccentric is not really a problem most of the time.

The tricky part was figuring out how to look like my entourage was larger than it was. It was me and my harem of fourteen women who were all happier running around naked than clothed. The climate in the infinity room was ideal for nudity. I created a small home with an axle and wheels that I could pull behind the chariot. I called it a mobile home. The girls thought it was a kick and sometimes came out of the bag in daytime, just to ride in the mobile home. Of course, they fixed it up and often went shopping when I came to a town of suitable size. When we camped for a night, it was no problem to pull out all manner of tents and banners to look like I was well-guarded. I’d acquired a couple of wolf pups on the journey and took the time in the infinity room to carefully train them to alert me to danger and to protect the girls. Having them sit outside my tent at night was enough to discourage any unwanted visitors.

I enjoyed packing everything into my satchel—horse, chariot, mobile home, and all, and walking through a town to trade for things of interest. Usually, one of my harem girls would accompany me, but they were all well aware that as long as they were in the infinity room, they did not age. When they were in the normal world, time affected them. So, mostly, they stayed inside and I joined them in the evenings. People could not readily tell that I had the wealth of a small city in the satchel I carried over my shoulder.

As I was in a town on market day and browsed through its bazaar, I came upon a scribe who had a number of small scrolls he had made himself and sold for only a copper drakma each. I paid for a copy and returned to my tent to read the scroll with Nimia curled up in my lap reading with me. The scribe said it was a faithful copy of the laws of the land described as the Code of Hammurabi.

It was a list of laws as long as my arm with a penalty ascribed to each. I really needed to go find this self-styled king and have a chat with him. There were entirely too many things that required the death penalty—most of which were because it was inconvenient for the king to keep them alive.

I pushed the horse a little faster than horses usually go while pulling a chariot and rolling wagon behind. I used the same enchantment on the load that I had used on the sleds back in my palace building days in Minoa. The weight was light and easy for the horse to pull. Within a few days, we were in sight of the new city of Babylon, capital of Hammurabi’s kingdom. He’d conquered nearly everything south, but stopped before he reached Bathra—at least for the moment. To the north, he was bordered by Assyrians on one side and Persians on the other, and was constantly fighting off one or both.

Word of my arrival as a wealthy merchant from the south spread quickly. I was conducted into the presence of the great man.

“You seem to have little of value to trade,” Hamm said when we met.

“Ah. I have converted my wealth to smaller precious jewels and metals,” I said. “I hope to trade those here and assemble a caravan of rare goods to take to the sea in the west and to the islands beyond.” I showed a selection of my jewels and, of course, Hammurabi collected a tax on them. Nonetheless, I’d shown enough to establish that I was capable of assembling a caravan.

That had been another of Nimia’s ideas. She suggested that an actual trading caravan would legitimize my claim to be a merchant and would also make it easier to establish a number of people in the camp. She suggested that it would also be a way to select certain people to join the population in the infinity room. I was, of course, willing to add to the harem, but Nimia suggested that some of the girls might want to have access to a man of their own and I should consider providing men, or find that the girls decided to stay in one of the towns through which we passed.

That hurt a little. I wanted to consider myself to be enough to satisfy any number of women, but I couldn’t really expect all the women I collected to deny their basic drive to motherhood. I didn’t own them as slaves, nor had I married or possessed them. And I did want them happy. So, I agreed to the arrangement.

Back to Hammurabi.

“NOW THESE laws,” I said. “They all seem to be punitive. You focus on punishing the offender and not on restoring the victim.”

“I rule with a rod of iron,” Hamm stated. “I am obeyed or people die.” Quite the big head.

“There is a small kingdom to the south that has created laws that show mercy to the poor and weak. They focus on the restitution of goods and righting the wrong, rather than punishment to show the power of the ruler. This kingdom has been blessed by the gods with great bounty. It shows leniency and fairness in the law,” I said.

“Such a system could not be sustained. The ruler would become weak and the laws would be broken. I will go to that country and conquer it, bringing true law to the kingdom. The people will thank me because I am a great king. Tell me where it is,” Hamm demanded.

I doubted that and hoped my ... Hmm. I wasn’t sure how long I had been gone wandering from Bathra. Would my son still be on the throne? My grandson? Another generation? I hoped he had maintained the laws and the strong army it would take to defeat Hammurabi’s warlike people. I diverted his attention.

“It is in the direction of Egypt. Many days journey from here. You might find strange things there. The tombs of their kings are like mountains,” I suggested. I’d never actually been to Egypt, but the story of the magnificent tombs entranced me and I thought that when I found my way to the sea, I might sail south and find the strange land of the Egyptians.

In the meantime, Hammurabi took me on a tour of his city and proudly pointed out the buildings. I congratulated him on the fine stone structures, occasionally making a suggestion that would improve the structural integrity or aesthetics.

“You know, this would be a fine place for a garden,” I said. “Think of how people would come to see it and each visitor would bring their coins to spend in your bazaar.”

“I will make it so. Bob, when you return here from your next journey, you will find a great garden here.”

I promised I would one day return. Then I set about assembling a caravan of trading goods to take westward. We left Hammurabi’s lands, finding our way to the Phoenician city of Tyre.

I CAMPED well away from the city and had a conference with my girls. Oh, there were more of them now. It seemed nearly every town and village had a rebellious daughter who was more interested in an adventure than in becoming a wife. We had also assimilated a few of the men who traveled with the caravan, though I examined each thoroughly and let them know that the penalty for hurting one of the women was the most severe in the infinity room. Those I felt were unreliable in that regard, I paid well and sent away.

I know I sound like an old man talking about the good old days, but there was once a time when people knew their place in the great cycle of life. I don’t mean only women. Men of every rank knew what was expected of them and where they fit in society.

Josie was a good example. She yearned for the life of a wife to a strong man who would care for her and protect her forever. Finding me—or vice versa—was her dream come true. Women were born and raised to be good wives. In fact, they competed to draw the greatest bride price. You could buy a pretty face for as little as a couple of sheep. But chances were, she was not well-trained or had a low opinion of her own skills. Many of those thought if they were good at one thing—like sex—all others would be forgiven. If you were able to offer a little gold, a flock of goats, and a good horse, you could get a wife who would manage your household efficiently, make sure food was prepared and served when you were hungry, be a happy and willing partner in bed—and if she couldn’t for some reason, would supply a woman who was—and see her man and her household prosper. Like Nimia.

This did not come without responsibilities on the part of the man. If he paid that kind of money for a woman, you can bet he was going to take care of her. He treated her well, provided fine clothes and servants, hunted or farmed or shepherded or traded so there was always food for her, and protected her from every danger. And they were both happy. She was proud to have commanded such a price and set about proving she was worth it. He was happy to have purchased a luxury model and spent his weekends polishing her and spoiling her.

Sorry. I mixed centuries a little there.

But we had encountered girls of an independent spirit as we traveled. Well, Josie wasn’t really that independent. Her father had devalued her. I mean, twelve girls—I could understand a little of how frustrated he was trying to find husbands for all of them. And without a mother, Josie had grown up a little rough around the edges, preferring to watch the goats rather than to watch a pot of water boil. Other girls, however, had wanted to choose for themselves what kind of mate they would have, and to negotiate their role in the marriage according to their own ideal.

It was this latter kind of girl we attracted as we traveled.

I was not willing to simply take on all comers with no questions asked, but Nimia and I found most of them to be capable negotiators and sticklers regarding the terms of their contract. In several instances, that included me providing a husband for them with no questions asked about how they had pleased me. When they discovered they would not be the only woman in my life, they rejoiced. Whether they had a taste for pussy themselves or simply wanted helpmates in the household, nearly all felt the company of women in the household was a great advantage to them.