Q: What’s the story behind Alexander the Great’s lost tomb?
SB: After Alexander died, in 322 BCE, one of his generals claimed Egypt as his own—and managed to acquire the conqueror’s body. The general was Ptolemy I, and after he hijacked Alexander’s funeral cortege, he entombed the body at Memphis, in Egypt. His successor, Ptolemy II, brought the corpse from Memphis to Alexandria. The next Ptolemy, in 215, built the Soma, a grand mausoleum where he entombed his forefathers, his mother, and Alexander the Great. The Soma became one of the most renowned and respected shrines in the ancient world. Roman emperors like Julius Caesar, Octavian, Caligula, Hadrian, Severus, Caracalla treated the shrine as a place of veneration, and the Soma stood for centuries, within a sacred precinct at the heart of the greatest of the Greek cities. Yet at the end of the 4th century, when the Christian emperor Theodosius outlawed paganism, the Soma and the body of Alexander the Great disappeared. The search for them became one of the world’s great archaeological quests, and remains one to this day. Not a trace of either has ever been found.
Q: Is there a connection between Venice and Alexander the Great?
SB: Some say there is. Alexander the Great’s mummified remains disappeared in the 4th century CE. Only one ancient, mummified corpse is known to have appeared in Alexandria at the end of the 4th century CE. Those remains were the corpse of St. Mark the Evangelist, founder of Christianity in Alexandria, martyred there in the first century after Christ. The body of St. Mark had been missing for over two hundred years, but it suddenly reappeared and was elaborately entombed in a shrine (similar to the Soma) and worshiped by Christians for the next three hundred years. In 828 CE two Venetian merchants smuggled the richly perfumed mummy of St. Mark past Alexandrian port officials and brought it to Venice. For centuries it lay in the crypt beneath the Basilica of St Mark. In the nineteenth century, the remains were transferred to a marble sarcophagus beneath the high altar to protect them from an ever-increasing risk of flood damage. Are those remains actually those of Alexander the Great? Scientific testing could readily reveal the answer. Radiocarbon dating could easily establish their age. Facial reconstruction should be possible using the skull, and the bones could be inspected for signs of Alexander’s many wounds, particularly the well-documented arrow wound to his chest, which is said to have lodged in the breast bone. All fascinating possibilities.
Q: Is that why Venice figures prominently in the story?
SB: That and the fact it’s a wonderful locale. I’d never visited there, so I went and discovered its great appeal. Torcello, particularly, is interesting. I’d read about the island and studied pictures but, once there, it was immediately apparent that it had to be in the story. Many of the things Cassiopeia and Malone ultimately do there, I did, including climbing the bell tower. Also, what’s even better, the two Venetian merchants who obtained St. Marks body in 828 were from Torcello, back when the island was a thriving metropolis and commerce center.
Q: Central Asia is a major locale, too. What about that area interested you?
SB: I’ve always had an interest in that part of the world and I’d love to visit there one day, particularly Samarkand, which from everything I read, sounds amazing. Alexander the Great roamed freely about the region and even met his match there with the Scythians. Unfortunately, the environmental disasters that afflict the area from the disappearing Aral Sea, to biological contamination, to nuclear waste are all too real. Unstable and corrupt governments are likewise the norm. My fictional Central Asia Federation is a hope that some form of political stability might one day come to that part of the world.
Q: This is Cotton Malone’s third adventure, what’s new this time?
SB: As a character, Cotton has grown quite a bit since The Templar Legacy. We’ve seen him with his ex-boss, Stephanie Nelle (The Templar Legacy), with his son, Gary, and ex-wife, Pam (The Alexandria Link), and this time we learn more about him as he interacts with CassiopeiSB: In many ways, this is Cassiopeia’s story. She must come to terms with things from her past, and she has to deal with some conflicting emotions. Cotton is drawn into her conflict through both his empathy and attraction for her, ultimately figuring prominently in the resolution. Cassiopeia is an interesting woman, and I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of her in the books ahead.
Q: Fire, particularly, Greek fire, is a factor in this story. Is it real?
SB: It is. The actual term “Greek fire” was not attributed to the concoction until the Crusades. Some of the original names included “liquid fire”, “marine fire”, and “artificial fire.” It was created around 673 CE by a Syrian. Incendiary weapons had been in use for centuries (petroleum and sulfur the most common ingredients), but Greek fire was both different and far more potent. Similar to modern napalm, it adhered to surfaces, ignited upon contact, and water alone would not extinguish its flames. The most common method of deployment was to emit the formula through a large bronze tube onto enemy ships. Usually the mixture would be stored in heated, pressurized barrels and projected through a tube by a pump, while the operators were sheltered behind large iron shields. The Byzantines rarely used the weapon out of fear that the secret mixture might fall into enemy hands. In 678 it was used to utterly destroy a Muslim fleet with over 30,000 men. The recipe was so closely guarded (held only by the Byzantine emperors) that, within 50 years of its invention, the knowledge was lost. No one, to date, has been able to successfully recreate the concoction.
Q: What’s next for 2008?
SB: Another Cotton Malone adventure, this one a bit more personal, more introspective, involving what happened to his father. Of course, there are more secrets, history, conspiracies, international locales, and lots of adventure.
