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- Herausgeber: Booksell-Verlag
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Sprache: Englisch
In "The Complete Works of Xenophon," readers are presented with a comprehensive anthology of the diverse writings of the ancient Greek historian, philosopher, and soldier. This collection includes seminal texts such as "Anabasis," which chronicles his journey and adventures with the Ten Thousand'—a contingent of Greek mercenaries'—and the "Memorabilia," which serves as a defense of Socrates and an exploration of his philosophical teachings. Employing a lucid yet engaging literary style, Xenophon's works meld firsthand historical narratives with insights into political philosophy and ethical conduct, reflecting the complexities of Greek culture during a turbulent epoch. The meticulous compilation showcases his contributions to the understanding of leadership, warfare, and personal integrity, situated against the backdrop of Classical philosophy and early historiography. Xenophon, a contemporary of Plato, was profoundly influenced by his experiences as a soldier and a pupil of Socrates. His unique position as both an observer and participant in Hellenistic conflicts imbued his writings with a duality: a practical, experiential approach to history intertwined with thoughtful philosophical inquiry. His affluence and aristocratic connections provided him access to significant cultural and political figures, greatly enriching the narratives found in his works. Recommended for scholars and casual readers alike, "The Complete Works of Xenophon" stands as a vital contribution to the study of ancient literature and philosophy. It offers not only a window into the intellect and values of an era but also pertinent lessons that continue to resonate in contemporary discussions on leadership and ethical governance. This anthology is an essential addition to any library, inviting readers to engage with the profound thoughts of one of antiquity's most influential figures. In this enriched edition, we have carefully created added value for your reading experience: - A comprehensive Introduction outlines these selected works' unifying features, themes, or stylistic evolutions. - The Author Biography highlights personal milestones and literary influences that shape the entire body of writing. - A Historical Context section situates the works in their broader era—social currents, cultural trends, and key events that underpin their creation. - A concise Synopsis (Selection) offers an accessible overview of the included texts, helping readers navigate plotlines and main ideas without revealing critical twists. - A unified Analysis examines recurring motifs and stylistic hallmarks across the collection, tying the stories together while spotlighting the different work's strengths. - Reflection questions inspire deeper contemplation of the author's overarching message, inviting readers to draw connections among different texts and relate them to modern contexts. - Lastly, our hand‐picked Memorable Quotes distill pivotal lines and turning points, serving as touchstones for the collection's central themes.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023
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The Complete Works of Xenophon
Table of Contents
Introduction
This collection gathers the extant writings of Xenophon, offering a single, coherent view of one of classical antiquity’s most versatile authors. An Athenian writer and soldier active in the fourth century BCE, Xenophon composed historical narratives, Socratic dialogues, and practical treatises that together illuminate Greek politics, warfare, education, and ethics. By presenting the works in full, this edition enables readers to trace the continuity of his interests across genres and decades, and to see how his experiences informed his thought. The aim is not merely to assemble texts, but to reveal a unified intellectual project: the pursuit of effective leadership and virtuous living.
We include the Historical Works: Anabasis, Cyropaedia, Hellenica, Agesilaus, and the Polity of the Lacedaemonians. The Defenses of Socrates and other Socratic dialogues comprise Memorabilia, Apology, the Economist, Symposium, and Hiero. The Treatises cover On Horsemanship, Hipparchikos, The Sportsman, On Revenues, and the Polity of the Athenians. Together they span narrative history, didactic biography, dialogue, and technical manuals. Some are firsthand reports; others are reflective or instructional. Each text balances observation with counsel, and all are shaped by a commitment to clarity and utility. Readers encounter campaigns and courts, banquets and barracks, households and assemblies, rendered in concise, accessible prose.
Across this diverse corpus, several preoccupations recur. Xenophon is concerned with how individuals acquire the habits needed to lead themselves, their households, and their communities. Discipline, moderation, foresight, and loyalty are shown as practical virtues that produce stability and success. He favors concrete examples over abstract speculation, and his style avoids ornament in favor of lucid narrative and compact analysis. Friendship, piety, and the training of character are persistent threads, as is the question of legitimate authority. These hallmarks help explain the endurance of his writings: they invite readers to test principles against experience and to see ethics as inseparable from action.
Xenophon’s histories combine eyewitness detail with an educator’s eye for character. Anabasis recounts the trials of a Greek expedition in unfamiliar lands, framed as a study in improvisation, morale, and command under stress. Hellenica continues the story of Greek affairs from the later years of the Peloponnesian War into its unsettled aftermath, observing the interplay of cities, alliances, and leaders. These works do not simply record events; they examine the consequences of decisions made in the field and in council. Their enduring value lies in the way they link narrative movement to reflection on responsibility, cohesion, and the costs of ambition.
Cyropaedia offers a sustained meditation on education through the life of Cyrus the Great. Neither a modern biography nor a simple historical chronicle, it uses the Persian ruler’s career as a framework to ask how institutions and habits form effective leaders and loyal communities. Xenophon adapts historical material to explore the arts of persuasion, discipline, and reward, and the limits of empire. Readers will find both admiration and caution: leadership is presented as a craft that shapes character as much as policy. The work’s didactic clarity has long made it a touchstone for discussions of training, merit, and the management of power.
Agesilaus and the Polity of the Lacedaemonians focus on Sparta and its practices. The former sketches the deeds and character of the Spartan king Agesilaus, presented as an exemplar of steadfastness and civic service. The latter describes Spartan institutions, highlighting their rules, routines, and aims. Taken together, they illustrate Xenophon’s interest in how law, custom, and leadership cultivate a distinctive ethos. They also reveal his willingness to appraise strengths and weaknesses in admired systems. The portrait that emerges is not antiquarian curiosity, but a study in how a community’s education can sustain unity—and how its successes invite scrutiny.
Xenophon’s Socratic writings defend and display the teachings of Socrates through varied settings. Memorabilia collects recollections intended to vindicate Socrates’ life and methods. Apology presents a concise account of his stance at trial. Symposium stages a convivial conversation that probes virtue and friendship. The Economist examines household management and the governance of resources as arenas for ethical training. Hiero considers the burdens and temptations of tyranny through a probing exchange. These dialogues avoid abstruse argument, favoring practical advice, exempla, and clear speech. Across them, education is personal and situational, built through disciplined habits, honest counsel, and tested friendships.
The technical treatises show Xenophon’s commitment to instruction in concrete skills that sustain civic life. On Horsemanship advises on the care, training, and assessment of horses; Hipparchikos addresses the duties of a cavalry commander; The Sportsman treats hunting as a school of endurance and attention; On Revenues proposes measures for improving Athenian finances. Polity of the Athenians, transmitted under his name but commonly regarded by modern scholars as the work of another author, analyzes Athenian institutions from a critical perspective. Together these texts demonstrate how practical expertise, public finance, and constitutional order intertwine with questions of character and responsibility.
Readers will notice a signature style: economical diction, orderly structure, and scenes chosen to reveal motives through actions. Xenophon privileges what can be learned from observation and repetition. He often pairs narrative with concise maxims and procedural guidance, making his works adaptable to readers seeking instruction as well as information. The tone is measured, sometimes quietly persuasive, rarely polemical. Even in praise, he tends to illuminate habits rather than idolize personalities. This craftsmanship creates a sense of reliability without pretense, and it allows the works to be approached as guides to judgment as much as sources for historical study.
Because these writings cross genres, they continue to serve multiple disciplines. Historians draw on Anabasis and Hellenica for evidence of fourth-century warfare and politics. Students of philosophy and rhetoric examine the Socratic works for an alternative portrait of Socrates and for models of applied ethics. Those interested in public administration and leadership find in Cyropaedia, Agesilaus, and the manuals a sustained attention to training, incentives, and the organization of teams. The same texts reward readers of literature for their narrative economy and character sketches. Their durability reflects a rare blend of experience-based detail and a consistent ethic of prudence.
As a complete collection, this edition preserves the integrity of Xenophon’s corpus while acknowledging questions of attribution where they arise. Works traditionally linked to his name but doubted by modern scholarship are presented with that status made clear, so readers can assess their relation to his outlook. The inclusion of the Polity of the Athenians is one such case. Read alongside the Polity of the Lacedaemonians and the financial program of On Revenues, it sharpens contrasts in constitutional thought and civic priorities. Such juxtapositions help readers see how debates over institutions are inseparable from debates over education and character.
Approached together, these works invite a cumulative reading. The campaigns and councils teach strategy; the dialogues teach conversation and self-scrutiny; the manuals teach craft and care. Taken as a whole, they form an education in seeing: noticing incentives, habits, and consequences in private and public life. This collection aims to provide that experience in full, while preserving the distinct voice of each text. Readers may begin anywhere—history, dialogue, or treatise—and will find the same steady focus on purposeful action guided by tested principles. Such coherence is the enduring strength of Xenophon’s work, and the reason for its continued appeal.
Author Biography
Xenophon was an Athenian soldier, historian, and philosopher active in the late fifth and early fourth centuries BCE. Celebrated for a clear, unadorned Attic style, he combined lived experience with reflective inquiry across history, biography, Socratic dialogues, and technical treatises. His best-known narrative, Anabasis, records a perilous march of Greek mercenaries through the Persian Empire, while Hellenica continues the Greek story from the end of Thucydides into the mid-fourth century. Other works examine leadership, civic order, household management, and education. Together they offer a distinctive portrait of Greek life after the Peloponnesian War and an enduring exploration of practical ethics and governance.
Born in Athens in the later fifth century BCE, Xenophon came of age amid war and political upheaval. He associated with Socrates, whose example of disciplined inquiry and everyday ethics left a durable mark on his thinking and style. Unlike speculative writers, Xenophon favored observation, utility, and moral clarity, traits that pervade his dialogues and narratives. He cultivated skills in horsemanship and hunting that later informed specialized treatises. Exposure to rival Greek polities, especially Sparta, shaped his comparative outlook on institutions and character. This blend of Socratic mentorship, practical training, and a divided Greek world set the intellectual frame for his literary career.
In the early fourth century BCE, Xenophon joined the expedition of Cyrus the Younger into the Persian interior. After Cyrus fell in battle and senior Greek officers were killed, the stranded mercenary army elected new leaders, among whom Xenophon emerged as a prominent figure. He helped guide the force across mountains and hostile territories to the Black Sea, an ordeal he later narrated in Anabasis. Written with spare vividness and strategic detail, the work blends travel narrative, military memoir, and reflections on leadership under pressure. It remains a principal source for Greek-Persian contact and the challenges facing citizen-soldiers beyond the polis.
Xenophon’s Hellenica picks up where Thucydides stops, covering the closing phase of the Peloponnesian War and the volatile decades that followed. The history tracks shifting alliances, civil strife, and the rise of Sparta and Thebes, often through a lens attentive to character and decision-making. His admiration for Sparta appears elsewhere: Constitution of the Lacedaemonians outlines practices he found exemplary, and Agesilaus offers an encomium of the Spartan king with whom he campaigned. After aligning with Spartan interests, Xenophon spent years at Scillus, near Olympia, under Spartan protection. This vantage shaped his historical judgments, a point noted by ancient and modern readers alike.
Alongside history, Xenophon preserved a pragmatic Socrates. Memorabilia defends the philosopher’s life and method through episodes that stress piety, self-control, and usefulness to friends and city. Apology presents a concise account of Socrates’ defense; Symposium stages convivial conversation on love and excellence; Oeconomicus explores household management and agriculture; and Hiero probes the burdens of tyranny in dialogue form. These writings contrast with Platonic metaphysics, favoring applied ethics and civic competence. They also offer a complementary witness to Socrates’ voice, illuminating habits of inquiry, everyday counsel, and the intersection of virtue with leadership, friendship, and economic stewardship.
Cyropaedia, Xenophon’s expansive portrait of Cyrus the Great, blends history with didactic fiction to examine how education, discipline, and honor can sustain rule over diverse peoples. Long read as a mirror for princes, it presents leadership as a craft shaped by character and training. Xenophon also wrote practical handbooks: On Horsemanship and On the Cavalry Commander address equestrian skill and civic cavalry leadership; On Hunting treats the training value of the chase; and Ways and Means proposes peaceful avenues for Athenian revenue and prosperity. Across these works he emphasizes clear instruction, feasible policy, and the cultivation of habits that anchor public life.
Xenophon spent extended periods away from Athens, including residence at Scillus and later in the Corinthian region, and he continued to write into the mid-fourth century BCE. He died in that era, leaving a corpus prized in antiquity for purity of diction and practical wisdom. Students learned Attic prose from his pages; historians mined Hellenica for a turbulent epoch; and readers approached Socrates through a different lens than Plato’s. Modern scholarship has reassessed his subtlety as a thinker, recognizing irony, experimentation across genres, and sustained interest in the ethics of command. His works endure as guides to leadership, citizenship, and civic education.
Historical Context
Xenophon of Athens (c. 428–354 BCE) wrote amid the transition from the high classical age to the fractured politics of the early fourth century BCE. His oeuvre spans history, biography, political theory, technical handbooks, and Socratic dialogues, reflecting a life that crossed boundaries between Athens, Sparta, and the Persian Empire. Born in the deme Erchia, he witnessed the last decades of the Athenian maritime empire and the Peloponnesian War. His experiences as soldier and observer—campaigning in Asia with Cyrus the Younger, living on Spartan-granted land at Scillus near Olympia, and chronicling Greek interstate struggles—shaped works as various as the Anabasis, Hellenica, Cyropaedia, and his practical treatises.
The intellectual climate of late fifth-century Athens centered on competing models of wisdom: sophistic rhetoric, traditional civic education, and Socratic inquiry. Xenophon, a young associate of Socrates, absorbed a moralizing, pragmatic approach that informed his dialogues and historical judgments. The trial and execution of Socrates in 399 BCE, under the restored democracy after the Thirty Tyrants, left a durable imprint on Athenian memory and on Xenophon’s portrayals of character and leadership. His Memorabilia, Apology, Symposium, and Oeconomicus preserve Socratic voices debating virtue, self-control, and civic responsibility, while these ethical concerns also underpin his narratives of generals, kings, and communities contending for power and stability.
The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BCE) remade the Greek world, ending Athenian dominance after defeats at Syracuse (413) and Aegospotami (405). The brief oligarchic regime of the Thirty (404/3), led by Critias and opposed by Theramenes, unleashed purges and exile before the democratic restoration in 403 BCE. This era bred both political skepticism and a search for durable institutions. Xenophon’s continuation of Thucydides in Hellenica picks up at 411 BCE, traversing the late war and its aftermath, while his wider reflections on constitutions and leadership are rooted in the turmoil of factional strife, shifting alliances, and the costs of imperial overreach for cities like Athens and Sparta.
Xenophon’s military horizons were Panhellenic and imperial. The Achaemenid Empire under Artaxerxes II (404–358 BCE) governed from Susa and Persepolis through satraps like Tissaphernes and Pharnabazus, whose rivalries entangled Greek cities. Cyrus the Younger’s bid for the throne culminated at Cunaxa (401 BCE) near Babylon, where Greek mercenaries proved decisive yet stranded. The expedition and the Ten Thousand’s retreat through Armenia and along the Black Sea coast (Trapezus, Sinope, Byzantium) framed Greek encounters with non-Greek peoples and imperial logistics. These experiences furnished comparative perspectives on Persian monarchy, local autonomy, and Greek cohesion that resonate across Anabasis, Cyropaedia’s didactic monarchy, and discussions of military and civic organization.
Sparta’s ascendancy after 404 BCE, achieved through Lysander’s naval victories and a network of decarchies, soon met resistance. King Agesilaus II, campaigning in Asia Minor from 396 to 394 BCE, sought to project Spartan power against Persian satraps but was recalled by the outbreak of the Corinthian War (395–387). Xenophon’s admiration for Agesilaus and his interest in Spartan institutions—ephors, gerousia, syssitia, and the agoge—reflect firsthand ties formed while serving with Spartan forces. The constitutional order and disciplined ethos of Lacedaemon inspired both celebration and scrutiny in his writings, as he weighed the strengths and limits of a military commonwealth contending with wealth, empire, and allied resentment.
The Corinthian War, culminating in the King’s Peace (387/6 BCE) dictated by Artaxerxes II, restored Persian influence in Asia Minor and forced Greek poleis to accept autonomy under imperial arbitration. Spartan hegemony continued yet eroded until the Theban revolution under Epaminondas and Pelopidas broke Spartan land supremacy at Leuctra (371 BCE) and reconfigured central Greece through Messenian independence. The Theban ascendancy ended in the bloody balance of Mantinea (362 BCE). Xenophon’s historical horizon, running through Hellenica to 362, captures a system in which no polis could sustain undisputed control. His analyses explore how leadership, institutions, and fortune constrain imperial projects and civic stability.
After fighting alongside Agesilaus at Coronea (394 BCE), Xenophon was exiled from Athens, a penalty later rescinded, and he settled on an estate at Scillus near Olympia, granted by the Spartans. This rural base, seized by the Eleans around 370 BCE, provided the tranquility and resources for reflective composition—histories, Socratic recollections, and technical treatises—and a vantage beyond Athenian partisan constraints. Later residency at Corinth or a return to Athens remains debated, yet the itinerary illustrates a writer embedded in multiple civic milieus. The countryside, festivals at Olympia, and proximity to Peloponnesian politics all informed his portraits of domestic management, hunting, horsemanship, and statecraft.
Greek warfare in the early fourth century underwent adaptation: the hoplite phalanx remained central, but light troops (peltasts) and cavalry gained prominence. Athenian commanders like Iphicrates innovated with lighter arms and flexible tactics, while cities sought to professionalize cavalry forces. Xenophon’s practical manuals on horsemanship and command of cavalry (hipparch) distill experiential knowledge about training mounts, scouting, discipline, and battlefield coordination. These technical interests intersect with broader themes—how a polis mobilizes elites, funds equipment, and institutionalizes expertise. The lessons extend from skirmishes in Asia to urban defense, complementing his historical narratives by specifying the skills and virtues that bind an effective military community.
The mercenary market, visible in the Ten Thousand and in Greek service to satraps such as Pharnabazus, tracked the fiscal strains of postwar poleis and the opportunities of the Achaemenid paymasters. Soldiers navigated Thracian courts (Seuthes), Hellespontine crossings, and Black Sea ports linked by grain and timber circuits. This broader economy, including the Laurion silver mines, the Piraeus harbor, metic entrepreneurship, and liturgical burdens on wealthy citizens, figures in Xenophon’s reflections on revenue and civic prosperity. His proposals to enhance Athens’ income via harbor dues, mine leases, and metic-friendly policies align practical finance with ethical governance, seeking stability without imperial tribute or corrosive factional exactions.
Greek social hierarchies structured politics and culture. In Sparta, helots worked Messenian lands while perioikoi formed a free but non-citizen stratum; in Athens, citizen, metic, and slave statuses defined rights and obligations. Democratic institutions—ekklesia, boule, popular courts—channeled mass participation, while liturgies like the trierarchy funded public goods. Such arrangements conditioned the behavior of generals, householders, and philosophers alike. Xenophon’s treatments of the Spartan politeia and the Athenian system, including a treatise attributed in antiquity to him but likely by the “Old Oligarch,” situate virtue and utility within institutional frames, probing how law, custom, and economic incentives cultivate discipline, ambition, or corrosive competition.
Elite Greek culture prized symposia, hunting, riding, and estate management as schools of virtue (aretē) and refinement (kalokagathia). The convivial symposium staged performances of wit, music, and philosophical conversation, shaping political networks and moral instruction. Hunting in the countryside trained endurance and coordination, while household economy (oikonomia) demanded stewardship of land, labor, and domestic harmony. Xenophon’s dialogues and treatises treat these pursuits neither as luxuries nor as mere technique, but as civic education: the adept horseman becomes a better officer, the prudent estate manager a more reliable citizen. Gender dynamics, notably in the instruction of a young wife by Ischomachus, reflect contemporary ideals and tensions.
Leadership is Xenophon’s unifying problematic. The model ruler balances justice, foresight, and self-discipline, whether general, king, or civic magistrate. His portrait of Cyrus as an educator of peoples, his encomium of Agesilaus, and a fictional exploration of tyranny through the dialogue between Simonides and Hiero elaborate contrasts between beneficent authority and fearful domination. Socratic conversations probe the foundations of command in self-mastery and knowledge of the good, while technical advice on cavalry or hunting transmutes into pedagogy in courage and prudence. Across these contexts, happiness (eudaimonia), loyalty, and effective organization are entwined, illuminating Greek debates over monarchy, aristocracy, and democratic leadership.
Piety and ritual pervade Greek public and private life. Sacrifices precede campaigns; seers interpret omens; oaths bind alliances and treaties. Xenophon’s narratives frequently hinge on ceremonial timing and divine favor, whether in the deliberations of marching columns, the public festivals of Olympia, or civic dedications. His own devotion to Artemis—replicating at Scillus a sanctuary modeled on the goddess’s at Ephesus—exemplifies how religion framed identity, landholding, and communal generosity. Rather than superstition, ritual appears as practical wisdom: honoring gods sustains morale, curbs hubris, and legitimates authority. This outlook unites the battlefield, the household altar, and the symposium under shared norms of reverence and restraint.
Xenophon writes within and against the historiography of Herodotus and Thucydides. He adopts Thucydides’ focus on power, war, and institutional causation, yet favors a plainer Attic style, moral characterization, and didactic purpose. Autopsy and participation give his accounts immediacy—marching in Anatolia, serving under Agesilaus—while inquiry extends to speeches and documents shaping policy. His historical canvas integrates economic measures, constitutional changes, and personal virtue or vice, resisting reduction to mere chronology. Simultaneously, the Socratic recollections model a different mode of truth-telling, preserving sayings and examples to educate readers. Together, these approaches craft history as a school for judgment under uncertainty and ambition.
Geography in Xenophon is strategic and ethnographic. The passes of Armenia, the Carduchian highlands, the satrapal centers of Lydia and Phrygia (Sardis), the coastal networks from Ephesus to Byzantium, and the Black Sea poleis (Trapezus, Sinope, Cotyora) form corridors of supply, refuge, and exchange. Terrain dictates tactics; rivers like the Tigris and Euphrates channel or obstruct movement; winter and mountain peoples test morale. Such attention to place informs both his military manuals and his portraits of constitutions adapted to local conditions. The “oikoumene” appears as a patchwork of customs, opportunities, and risks through which Greek soldiers, merchants, and lawmakers negotiate survival and advantage.
By the 350s BCE, Athens faced fiscal strain after the Social War (357–355 BCE), when allies like Chios and Rhodes revolted against the Second Athenian Confederacy (founded 378/7 BCE). Statesmen such as Eubulus prioritized peace and financial recovery, reforming the theoric fund and curbing aggressive expeditions. In this milieu, proposals to increase regular revenues without empire—leveraging the Piraeus, metic residence, and the Laurion mines—addressed unemployment among citizens and the burden of extraordinary taxes (eisphorai) and liturgies. Xenophon’s economic reflections, couched in practical detail, align with his broader conviction that stable institutions, rational incentives, and disciplined leadership can restore civic health amid competitive geopolitics.
Xenophon’s legacy crosses genres and centuries. Roman readers prized his moral clarity; Cicero cited him as a master of leadership, while Arrian modeled his Anabasis of Alexander on Xenophon’s narrative of the Ten Thousand. Renaissance humanists mined his Socratic dialogues and Cyropaedia for princely education, and early modern soldiers read his horsemanship and cavalry treatises. Modern historians study his Hellenica alongside Thucydides and Diodorus for fourth-century events from 411 to 362 BCE. Across receptions, his integration of ethics with strategy, domestic economy with public finance, and local custom with imperial policy provides a durable framework for thinking about power, prosperity, and civic character.
Synopsis (Selection)
Anabasis
A first-person narrative of Greek mercenaries who march into Persia with Cyrus the Younger and, after his death, undertake a perilous retreat to the Black Sea, improvising leadership and survival tactics across hostile terrain.
Cyropaedia
A partly fictionalized life of Cyrus the Great that uses his education, campaigns, and statecraft to illustrate principles of leadership, discipline, and imperial governance.
Hellenica: The History of the Peloponnesian War
A continuation of Greek history from where Thucydides stops, recounting the end of the Peloponnesian War and subsequent power shifts through Spartan hegemony, the Corinthian War, and Theban resurgence.
Agesilaus
A laudatory biography of the Spartan king Agesilaus II, emphasizing his campaigns, restraint, and personal virtues as a model of effective leadership.
Polity of the Lacedaemonians
A descriptive account of Spartan institutions—education, military training, civic order, and family life—explaining how Lycurgan customs forged a disciplined society and how later practices diverged.
Memorabilia
Recollections of Socrates presented to defend his character and method, featuring conversations on piety, justice, friendship, and practical ethics.
Apology
Xenophon’s concise version of Socrates’ defense, portraying his composure at trial and his reasoning about virtue and death.
The Economist
A dialogue on household management and agriculture in which Socrates draws from Ischomachus a practical program for running an estate and training household members.
Symposium
A banquet dialogue where Socrates and companions offer speeches and performances on love, beauty, and excellence, blending humor with moral reflection.
Hiero
A conversation between the tyrant Hiero and the poet Simonides on whether tyrants are happy and how a ruler might secure genuine goodwill.
On Horsemanship
A manual on selecting, training, and caring for horses and on proper riding and equipment for the cavalryman.
Hipparchikos
Advice for a cavalry commander on organizing, training, and deploying the cavalry, including public duties, inspections, and battlefield tactics.
The Sportsman
A treatise on hunting—especially hare-hunting with hounds—covering methods, equipment, and the moral and physical benefits of the chase.
On Revenues
An economic memorandum proposing peaceful measures to increase Athens’ public income through trade facilitation, silver mining, and incentives for resident foreigners.
Polity of the Athenians
An analytical sketch of the Athenian democratic constitution explaining how its institutions empower the common people and why the system functions effectively despite elite criticisms.
The Complete Works of Xenophon
Historical Works
Anabasis
BOOK I
I
Darius and Parysatis had two sons: the elder was named Artaxerxes, and the younger Cyrus. Now, as Darius lay sick and felt that the end of life drew near, he wished both his sons to be with him. The elder, as it chanced, was already there, but Cyrus he must needs send for from the province over which he had made him satrap, having appointed him general moreover of all the forces that muster in the plain of the Castolus. Thus Cyrus went up, taking with him Tissaphernes as his friend, and accompanied also by a body of Hellenes, three hundred heavy armed men, under the command of Xenias the Parrhasian1.
Now when Darius was dead, and Artaxerxes was established in the kingdom, Tissaphernes brought slanderous accusations against Cyrus before his brother, the king, of harbouring designs against him. And Artaxerxes, listening to the words of Tissaphernes, laid hands upon Cyrus, desiring to put him to death; but his mother made intercession for him, and sent him back again in safety to his province. He then, having so escaped through peril and dishonour, fell to considering, not only how he might avoid ever again being in his brother's power, but how, if possible, he might become king in his stead. Parysatis, his mother, was his first resource; for she had more love for Cyrus than for Artaxerxes upon his throne. Moreover Cyrus's behaviour towards all who came to him from the king's court was such that, when he sent them away again, they were better friends to himself than to the king his brother. Nor did he neglect the barbarians in his own service; but trained them, at once to be capable as warriors and devoted adherents of himself. Lastly, he began collecting his Hellenic armament, but with the utmost secrecy, so that he might take the king as far as might be at unawares.
The manner in which he contrived the levying of the troops was as follows: First, he sent orders to the commandants of garrisons in the cities (so held by him), bidding them to get together as large a body of picked Peloponnesian troops as they severally were able, on the plea that Tissaphernes was plotting against their cities; and truly these cities of Ionia had originally belonged to Tissaphernes, being given to him by the king; but at this time, with the exception of Miletus, they had all revolted to Cyrus. In Miletus, Tissaphernes, having become aware of similar designs, had forestalled the conspirators by putting some to death and banishing the remainder. Cyrus, on his side, welcomed these fugitives, and having collected an army, laid siege to Miletus by sea and land, endeavouring to reinstate the exiles; and this gave him another pretext for collecting an armament. At the same time he sent to the king, and claimed, as being the king's brother, that these cities should be given to himself rather than that Tissaphernes should continue to govern them; and in furtherance of this end, the queen, his mother, co-operated with him, so that the king not only failed to see the design against himself, but concluded that Cyrus was spending his money on armaments in order to make war on Tissaphernes. Nor did it pain him greatly to see the two at war together, and the less so because Cyrus was careful to remit the tribute due to the king from the cities which belonged to Tissaphernes.
A third army was being collected for him in the Chersonese, over against Abydos, the origin of which was as follows: There was a Lacedaemonian exile, named Clearchus, with whom Cyrus had become associated. Cyrus admired the man, and made him a present of ten thousand darics2. Clearchus took the gold, and with the money raised an army, and using the Chersonese as his base of operations, set to work to fight the Thracians north of the Hellespont, in the interests of the Hellenes, and with such happy result that the Hellespontine cities, of their own accord, were eager to contribute funds for the support of his troops. In this way, again, an armament was being secretly maintained for Cyrus.
Then there was the Thessalian Aristippus, Cyrus's friend3, who, under pressure of the rival political party at home, had come to Cyrus and asked him for pay for two thousand mercenaries, to be continued for three months, which would enable him, he said, to gain the upper hand of his antagonists. Cyrus replied by presenting him with six months' pay for four thousand mercenaries—only stipulating that Aristippus should not come to terms with his antagonists without final consultation with himself. In this way he secured to himself the secret maintenance of a fourth armament.
Further, he bade Proxenus, a Boeotian, who was another friend, get together as many men as possible, and join him in an expedition which he meditated against the Pisidians 4, who were causing annoyance to his territory. Similarly two other friends, Sophaenetus the Stymphalian 5, and Socrates the Achaean, had orders to get together as many men as possible and come to him, since he was on the point of opening a campaign, along with Milesian exiles, against Tissaphernes. These orders were duly carried out by the officers in question.
1 Parrhasia, a district and town in the south-west of Arcadia.
3 Lit. "guest-friend." Aristippus was, as we learn from the "Meno" of Plato, a native of Larisa, of the family of the Aleuadae, and a pupil of Gorgias. He was also a lover of Menon, whom he appears to have sent on this expedition instead of himself.
4 Lit. "into the country of the Pisidians."
5 Of Stymphalus in Arcadia.
II
But when the right moment seemed to him to have come, at which he should begin his march into the interior, the pretext which he put forward was his desire to expel the Pisidians utterly out of the country; and he began collecting both his Asiatic and his Hellenic armaments, avowedly against that people. From Sardis in each direction his orders sped: to Clearchus, to join him there with the whole of his army; to Aristippus, to come to terms with those at home, and to despatch to him the troops in his employ; to Xenias the Arcadian, who was acting as general-in-chief of the foreign troops in the cities, to present himself with all the men available, excepting only those who were actually needed to garrison the citadels. He next summoned the troops at present engaged in the siege of Miletus, and called upon the exiles to follow him on his intended expedition, promising them that if he were successful in his object, he would not pause until he had reinstated them in their native city. To this invitation they hearkened gladly; they believed in him; and with their arms they presented themselves at Sardis. So, too, Xenias arrived at Sardis with the contingent from the cities, four thousand hoplites; Proxenus, also, with fifteen hundred hoplites and five hundred light-armed troops; Sophaenetus the Stymphalian, with one thousand hoplites; Socrates the Achaean, with five hundred hoplites; while the Megarion Pasion came with three hundred hoplites and three hundred peltasts 1. This latter officer, as well as Socrates, belonged to the force engaged against Miletus. These all joined him at Sardis.
But Tissaphernes did not fail to note these proceedings. An equipment so large pointed to something more than an invasion of Pisidia: so he argued; and with what speed he might, he set off to the king, attended by about five hundred horse. The king, on his side, had no sooner heard from Tissaphernes of Cyrus's great armament, than he began to make counter-preparations.
Thus Cyrus, with the troops which I have named, set out from Sardis, and marched on and on through Lydia three stages, making two-and-twenty parasangs 2, to the river Maeander. That river is two hundred feet 3 broad, and was spanned by a bridge consisting of seven boats. Crossing it, he marched through Phrygia a single stage, of eight parasangs, to Colossae, an inhabited city 4, prosperous and large. Here he remained seven days, and was joined by Menon the Thessalian, who arrived with one thousand hoplites and five hundred peltasts, Dolopes, Aenianes, and Olynthians. From this place he marched three stages, twenty parasangs in all, to Celaenae, a populous city of Phrygia, large and prosperous. Here Cyrus owned a palace and a large park 5 full of wild beasts, which he used to hunt on horseback, whenever he wished to give himself or his horses exercise. Through the midst of the park flows the river Maeander, the sources of which are within the palace buildings, and it flows through the city of Celaenae. The great king also has a palace in Celaenae, a strong place, on the sources of another river, the Marsyas, at the foot of the acropolis. This river also flows through the city, discharging itself into the Maeander, and is five-and-twenty feet broad. Here is the place where Apollo is said to have flayed Marsyas, when he had conquered him in the contest of skill. He hung up the skin of the conquered man, in the cavern where the spring wells forth, and hence the name of the river, Marsyas. It was on this site that Xerxes, as tradition tells, built this very palace, as well as the citadel of Celaenae itself, on his retreat from Hellas, after he had lost the famous battle. Here Cyrus remained for thirty days, during which Clearchus the Lacedaemonian arrived with one thousand hoplites and eight hundred Thracian peltasts and two hundred Cretan archers. At the same time, also, came Sosis the Syracusian with three thousand hoplites, and Sophaenetus the Arcadian 6 with one thousand hoplites; and here Cyrus held a review, and numbered his Hellenes in the park, and found that they amounted in all to eleven thousand hoplites and about two thousand peltasts.
From this place he continued his march two stages—ten parasangs—to the populous city of Peltae, where he remained three days; while Xenias, the Arcadian, celebrated the Lycaea 7 with sacrifice, and instituted games. The prizes were headbands of gold; and Cyrus himself was a spectator of the contest. From this place the march was continued two stages—twelve parasangs—to Ceramon-agora, a populous city, the last on the confines of Mysia. Thence a march of three stages—thirty parasangs—brought him to Caystru-pedion 8, a populous city. Here Cyrus halted five days; and the soldiers, whose pay was now more than three months in arrear, came several times to the palace gates demanding their dues; while Cyrus put them off with fine words and expectations, but could not conceal his vexation, for it was not his fashion to stint payment, when he had the means. At this point Epyaxa, the wife of Syennesis, the king of the Cilicians, arrived on a visit to Cyrus; and it was said that Cyrus received a large gift of money from the queen. At this date, at any rate, Cyrus gave the army four months' pay. The queen was accompanied by a bodyguard of Cilicians and Aspendians; and, if report speaks truly, Cyrus had intimate relations with the queen.
From this place he marched two stages—ten parasangs—to Thymbrium, a populous city. Here, by the side of the road, is the spring of Midas, the king of Phrygia, as it is called, where Midas, as the story goes, caught the satyr by drugging the spring with wine. From this place he marched two stages—ten parasangs—to Tyriaeum, a populous city. Here he halted three days; and the Cilician queen, according to the popular account, begged Cyrus to exhibit his armament for her amusement. The latter being only too glad to make such an exhibition, held a review of the Hellenes and barbarians in the plain. He ordered the Hellenes to draw up their lines and post themselves in their customary battle order, each general marshalling his own battalion. Accordingly they drew up four-deep. The right was held by Menon and those with him; the left by Clearchus and his men; the centre by the remaining generals with theirs. Cyrus first inspected the barbarians, who marched past in troops of horses and companies of infantry. He then inspected the Hellenes; driving past them in his chariot, with the queen in her carriage. And they all had brass helmets and purple tunics, and greaves, and their shields uncovered 9.
After he had driven past the whole body, he drew up his chariot in front of the centre of the battle-line, and sent his interpreter Pigres to the generals of the Hellenes, with orders to present arms and to advance along the whole line. This order was repeated by the generals to their men; and at the sound of the bugle, with shields forward and spears in rest, they advanced to meet the enemy. The pace quickened, and with a shout the soldiers spontaneously fell into a run, making in the direction of the camp. Great was the panic of the barbarians. The Cilician queen in her carriage turned and fled; the sutlers in the marketing place left their wares and took to their heels; and the Hellenes meanwhile came into camp with a roar of laughter. What astounded the queen was the brilliancy and order of the armament; but Cyrus was pleased to see the terror inspired by the Hellenes in the hearts of the Asiatics.
From this place he marched on three stages—twenty parasangs—to Iconium, the last city of Phrygia, where he remained three days. Thence he marched through Lycaonia five stages—thirty parasangs. This was hostile country, and he gave it over to the Hellenes to pillage. At this point Cyrus sent back the Cilician queen to her own country by the quickest route; and to escort her he sent the soldiers of Menon, and Menon himself. With the rest of the troops he continued his march through Cappadocia four stages—twenty-five parasangs—to Dana, a populous city, large and flourishing. Here they halted three days, within which interval Cyrus put to death, on a charge of conspiracy, a Persian nobleman named Megaphernes, a wearer of the royal purple; and along with him another high dignitary among his subordinate commanders.
From this place they endeavoured to force a passage into Cilicia. Now the entrance was by an exceedingly steep cart-road, impracticable for an army in face of a resisting force; and report said that Syennesis was on the summit of the pass guarding the approach. Accordingly they halted a day in the plain; but next day came a messenger informing them that Syenesis had left the pass; doubtless, after perceiving that Menon's army was already in Cilicia on his own side of the mountains; and he had further been informed that ships of war, belonging to the Lacedaemonians and to Cyrus himself, with Tamos on board as admiral, were sailing round from Ionia to Cilicia. Whatever the reason might be, Cyrus made his way up into the hills without let or hindrance, and came in sight of the tents where the Cilicians were on guard. From that point he descended gradually into a large and beautiful plain country, well watered, and thickly covered with trees of all sorts and vines. This plain produces sesame plentifully, as also panic and millet and barley and wheat; and it is shut in on all sides by a steep and lofty wall of mountains from sea to sea. Descending through this plain country, he advanced four stages—twenty-five parasangs—to Tarsus, a large and prosperous city of Cilicia. Here stood the palace of Syennesis, the king of the country; and through the middle of the city flows a river called the Cydnus, two hundred feet broad. They found that the city had been deserted by its inhabitants, who had betaken themselves, with Syennesis, to a strong place on the hills. All had gone, except the tavern-keepers. The sea-board inhabitants of Soli and Issi also remained. Now Epyaxa, Syennesis's queen, had reached Tarsus five days in advance of Cyrus. During their passage over the mountains into the plain, two companies of Menon's army were lost. Some said they had been cut down by the Cilicians, while engaged on some pillaging affair; another account was that they had been left behind, and being unable to overtake the main body, or discover the route, had gone astray and perished. However it was, they numbered one hundred hoplites; and when the rest arrived, being in a fury at the destruction of their fellow soldiers, they vented their spleen by pillaging the city of Tarsus and the palace to boot. Now when Cyrus had marched into the city, he sent for Syennesis to come to him; but the latter replied that he had never yet put himself into the hands of any one who was his superior, nor was he willing to accede to the proposal of Cyrus now; until, in the end, his wife persuaded him, and he accepted pledges of good faith. After this they met, and Syennesis gave Cyrus large sums in aid of his army; while Cyrus presented him with the customary royal gifts—to wit, a horse with a gold bit, a necklace of gold, a gold bracelet, and a gold scimitar, a Persian dress, and lastly, the exemption of his territory from further pillage, with the privilege of taking back the slaves that had been seized, wherever they might chance to come upon them.
1 "Targeteers" armed with a light shield instead of the larger one of the hoplite, or heavy infantry soldier. Iphicrates made great use of this arm at a later date.
4 Lit. "inhabited," many of the cities of Asia being then as now deserted, but the suggestion is clearly at times "thickly inhabited," "populous."
6 Perhaps this should be Agias the Arcadian, as Mr. Macmichael suggests. Sophaenetus has already been named above.
7 The Lycaea, an Arcadian festival in honour of Zeus Αρχαιος, akin to the Roman Lupercalia, which was originally a shepherd festival, the introduction of which the Romans ascribe to the Arcadian Evander.
8 Lit. "plain of the Cayster," like Ceramon-agora, "the market of the Ceramians" above, the name of a town.
9 I.e. ready for action, c.f. "bayonets fixed".
III
At Tarsus Cyrus and his army halted for twenty days; the soldiers refusing to advance further, since the suspicion ripened in their minds, that the expedition was in reality directed against the king; and as they insisted, they had not engaged their services for that object. Clearchus set the example of trying to force his men to continue their march; but he had no sooner started at the head of his troops than they began to pelt him and his baggage train, and Clearchus had a narrow escape of being stoned to death there and then. Later on, when he perceived that force was useless, he summoned an assembly of his own men; and for a long while he stood and wept, while the men gazed in silent astonishment. At last he spoke as follows: "Fellow soldiers, do not marvel that I am sorely distressed on account of the present troubles. Cyrus has been no ordinary friend to me. When I was in banishment he honoured me in various ways, and made me also a present of ten thousand darics. These I accepted, but not to lay them up for myself for private use; not to squander them in pleasure, but to expend them on yourselves. And, first of all, I went to war with the Thracians, and with you to aid, I wreaked vengeance on them in behalf of Hellas; driving them out of the Chersonese, when they wanted to deprive its Hellenic inhabitants of their lands. But as soon as Cyrus summoned me, I took you with me and set out, so that, if my benefactor had any need of me, I might requite him for the good treatment I myself had received at his hands.... But since you are not minded to continue the march with me, one of two things is left to me to do; either I must renounce you for the sake of my friendship with Cyrus, or I must go with you at the cost of deceiving him. Whether I am about to do right or not, I cannot say, but I choose yourselves; and, whatever betide, I mean to share your fate. Never shall it be said of me by any one that, having led Greek troops against the barbarians 1, I betrayed the Hellenes, and chose the friendship of the barbarian. No! since you do not choose to obey and follow me, I will follow after you. Whatever betide, I will share your fate. I look upon you as my country, my friends, my allies; with you I think I shall be honoured, wherever I be; without you I do not see how I can help a friend or hurt a foe. My decision is taken. Wherever you go, I go also."
Such were his words. But the soldiers, not only his own, but the rest also, when they heard what he said, and how he had scouted the idea of going up to the great king's palace 2, expressed their approval; and more than two thousand men deserted Xenias and Pasion, and took their arms and baggage-train, and came and encamped with Clearchus. But Cyrus, in despair and vexation at this turn of affairs, sent for Clearchus. He refused to come; but, without the knowledge of the soldiers, sent a message to Cyrus, bidding him keep a good heart, for that all would arrange itself in the right way; and bade him keep on sending for him, whilst he himself refused to go. After that he got together his own men, with those who had joined him, and of the rest any who chose to come, and spoke as follows: "Fellow soldiers, it is clear that the relations of Cyrus to us are identical with ours to him. We are no longer his soldiers, since we have ceased to follow him; and he, on his side, is no longer our paymaster. He, however, no doubt considers himself wronged by us; and though he goes on sending for me, I cannot bring myself to go to him: for two reasons, chiefly from a sense of shame, for I am forced to admit to myself that I have altogether deceived him; but partly, too, because I am afraid of his seizing me and inflicting a penalty on the wrongs which he conceives that I have done him. In my opinion, then, this is no time for us to go to sleep and forget all about ourselves, rather it is high time to deliberate on our next move; and as long as we do remain here, we had better bethink us how we are to abide in security; or, if we are resolved to turn our backs at once, what will be the safest means of retreat; and, further, how we are to procure supplies, for without supplies there is no profit whatsoever in the general or the private soldier. The man with whom we have to deal is an excellent friend to his friends, but a very dangerous enemy to his foes. And he is backed by a force of infantry and cavalry and ships such as we all alike very well see and know, since we can hardly be said to have posted ourselves at any great distance from him. If, then, any one has a suggestion to make, now is the time to speak." With these words he ceased.
Then various speakers stood up; some of their own motion to propound their views; others inspired by Clearchus to dilate on the hopeless difficulty of either staying, or going back without the goodwill of Cyrus. One of these, in particular, with a make-believe of anxiety to commence the homeward march without further pause, called upon them instantly to choose other generals, if Clearchus were not himself prepared to lead them back: "Let them at once purchase supplies" (the market being in the heart of the Asiatic camp), "let them pack up their baggage: let them," he added, "go to Cyrus and ask for some ships in order to return by sea: if he refused to give them ships, let them demand of him a guide to lead them back through a friendly district; and if he would not so much as give them a guide, they could but put themselves, without more ado, in marching order, and send on a detachment to occupy the pass—before Cyrus and the Cilicians, whose property," the speaker added, "we have so plentifully pillaged, can anticipate us." Such were the remarks of that speaker; he was followed by Clearchus, who merely said: "As to my acting personally as general at this season, pray do not propose it: I can see numerous obstacles to my doing so. Obedience, in the fullest, I can render to the man of your choice, that is another matter: and you shall see and know that I can play my part, under command, with the best of you."
After Clearchus another spokesman stood up, and proceeded to point out the simplicity of the speaker, who proposed to ask for vessels, just as if Cyrus were minded to renounce the expedition and sail back again. "And let me further point out," he said, "what a simple-minded notion it is to beg a guide of the very man whose designs we are marring. If we can trust any guide whom Cyrus may vouchsafe to us, why not order Cyrus at once to occupy the pass on our behoof? For my part, I should think twice before I set foot on any ships that he might give us, for fear lest he should sink them with his men-of-war; and I should equally hesitate to follow any guide of his: he might lead us into some place out of which we should find it impossible to escape. I should much prefer, if I am to return home against the will of Cyrus at all, to give him the slip, and so begone: which indeed is impossible. But these schemes are simply nonsensical. My proposal is that a deputation of fit persons, with Clearchus, should go to Cyrus: let them go to Cyrus and ask him: what use he proposes to make of us? and if the business is at all similar to that on which he once before employed a body of foreigners—let us by all means follow: let us show that we are the equals of those who accompanied him on his march up formerly. But if the design should turn out to be of larger import than the former one—involving more toil and more danger—we should ask him, either to give us good reasons for following his lead, or else consent to send us away into a friendly country. In this way, whether we follow him, we shall do so as friends, and with heart and soul, or whether we go back, we shall do so in security. The answer to this shall be reported to us here, and when we have heard it, we will advise as to our best course."
This resolution was carried, and they chose and sent a deputation with Clearchus, who put to Cyrus the questions which had been agreed upon by the army. Cyrus replied as follows: That he had received news that Abrocomas, an enemy of his, was posted on the Euphrates, twelve stages off; his object was to march against this aforesaid Abrocomas: and if he were still there, he wished to inflict punishment on him, "or if he be fled" (so the reply concluded), "we will there deliberate on the best course." The deputation received the answer and reported it to the soldiers. The suspicion that he was leading them against the king was not dispelled; but it seemed best to follow him. They only demanded an increase of pay, and Cyrus promised to give them half as much again as they had hitherto received—that is to say, a daric and a half a month to each man, instead of a daric. Was he really leading them to attack the king? Not even at this moment was any one apprised of the fact, at any rate in any open and public manner.
1 Lit. "into the country of the barbarian."
2 Or "how he insisted that he was not going up."
IV
From this point he marched two stages—ten parasangs—to the river Psarus, which is two hundred feet broad, and from the Psarus he marched a single stage—five parasangs—to Issi, the last city in Cilicia. It lies on the seaboard—a prosperous, large and flourishing town. Here they halted three days, and here Cyrus was joined by his fleet. There were thirty-five ships from Peloponnesus, with the Lacedaemonian admiral Pythagoras on board. These had been piloted from Ephesus by Tamos the Egyptian, who himself had another fleet of twenty-five ships belonging to Cyrus. These had formed Tamos's blockading squadron at Miletus, when that city sided with Tissaphernes; he had also used them in other military services rendered to Cyrus in his operations against that satrap. There was a third officer on board the fleet, the Lacedaemonian Cheirisophus, who had been sent for by Cyrus, and had brought with him seven hundred hoplites, over whom he was to act as general in the service of Cyrus. The fleet lay at anchor opposite Cyrus's tent. Here too another reinforcement presented itself. This was a body of four hundred hoplites, Hellenic mercenaries in the service of Abrocomas, who deserted him for Cyrus, and joined in the campaign against the king.
From Issi, he marched a single stage—five parasangs—to the gates of Cilicia and Syria. This was a double fortress: the inner and nearer one, which protects Cilicia, was held by Syennesis and a garrison of Cilicians; the outer and further one, protecting Syria, was reported to be garrisoned by a body of the king's troops. Through the gap between the two fortresses flows a river named the Carsus, which is a hundred feet broad, and the whole space between was scarcely more than six hundred yards. To force a passage here would be impossible, so narrow was the pass itself, with the fortification walls stretching down to the sea, and precipitous rocks above; while both fortresses were furnished with gates. It was the existence of this pass which had induced Cyrus to send for the fleet, so as to enable him to lead a body of hoplites inside and outside the gates; and so to force a passage through the enemy, if he were guarding the Syrian gate, as he fully expected to find Abrocomas doing with a large army. This, however, Abrocomas had not done; but as soon as he learnt that Cyrus was in Cilicia, he had turned round and made his exit from Phoenicia, to join the king with an army amounting, as report said, to three hundred thousand men.
From this point Cyrus pursued his march, through Syria a single stage—five parasangs—to Myriandus, a city inhabited by Phoenicians, on the sea-coast. This was a commercial port, and numerous merchant vessels were riding at anchor in the harbour. Here they halted seven days, and here Xenias the Arcadian general, and Pasion the Megarian got on board a trader, and having stowed away their most valuable effects, set sail for home; most people explained the act as the outcome of a fit of jealousy, because Cyrus had allowed Clearchus to retain their men, who had deserted to him, in hopes of returning to Hellas instead of marching against the king; when the two had so vanished, a rumour spread that Cyrus was after them with some ships of war, and some hoped the cowards might be caught, others pitied them, if that should be their fate.
But Cyrus summoned the generals and addressed them: "Xenias and Pasion," he said, "have taken leave of us; but they need not flatter themselves that in so doing they have stolen into hiding. I know where they are gone; nor will they owe their escape to speed; I have men-of-war to capture their craft, if I like. But heaven help me! if I mean to pursue them: never shall it be said of me, that I turn people to account as long as they stay with me, but as soon as they are minded to be off, I seize and maltreat them, and strip them of their wealth. Not so! let them go with the consciousness that our behaviour to them is better than theirs to us. And yet I have their children and wives safe under lock and key in Tralles; but they shall not be deprived even of these. They shall receive them back in return for their former goodness to me." So he spoke, and the Hellenes, even those who had been out of heart at the thought of marching up the country, when they heard of the nobleness of Cyrus, were happier and more eager to follow him on his path.
After this Cyrus marched onwards four stages—twenty parasangs—to the river Chalus. That river is a hundred feet broad, and is stocked with tame fish which the Syrians regard as gods, and will not suffer to be injured—and so too the pigeons of the place. The villages in which they encamped belonged to Parysatis, as part of her girdle money 1
