Pharnabazus Sits on the Ground With the Spartan Captains

The scene is ancient Greece in 396 BC. Hermion, a grizzled and battle-weary Spartan captain, tells the story of a meeting with a local Persian ruler, Pharnabazus, on the shores of the Hellespont, the river separating Europe and Asia. The encounter raises questions about the death of the brilliant Athenian politician and general Alcibiades. Hermion retraces his own youth and middle age, the battles he has fought as an elite Spartan warrior, his excessive love for his wife, Satheria, and his tempestuous relationship with the man he believes he has killed.