In the latter years of the Peloponnesian War the affairs of Greece
became more than formerly implicated with those of Persia; and, during
the short calm which succeeded the long troubles of the former country,
some events in the latter will require attention. The detail will lead
far from Greece; but, beside involving information of Grecian affairs
not found elsewhere, it has a very important connection with Grecian
history through the insight it affords into circumstances which prepared
a revolution effected by Grecian arms, one of the greatest occurring in
the annals of the world.
THE AFFAIRS OF PERSIA
By the event of the Peloponnesian War the Asian Greeks changed the
dominion of Athens, not for that of Lacedæmon, the conquering Grecian
power, but of a foreign, a barbarian master, the king of Persia, then
the ally of Lacedæmon. Towards the end of the same year in which a
conclusion was put to the war, by the taking of Athens, Darius, king of
Persia, the second of the name, died. He was succeeded by his eldest
son, Artaxerxes, also the second of his name, and, for his extraordinary
memory, distinguished among the Greeks by the addition of Mnemon, “the
Mindful.” The old king, in his last illness, desirous to see once more
his favourite son Cyrus, sent for him from his government in Lydia. The
prince, in obeying his father’s requisition, travelled in the usual
manner of the Eastern great, with a train amounting almost to an army;
and, to exhibit in his guard the new magnificence of troops so much heard
of in the upper provinces, but never yet seen, he engaged by large pay
the attendance of three hundred heavy-armed Greeks, under the command of
Xenias of Parrhasia in Arcadia. As a friend and counsellor, he took with
him Tissaphernes, satrap of Caria.
[Sidenote: [404-401 B.C.]]
On the decease of Darius, which followed shortly, a jealousy, scarcely
separable from a despotic throne, but said to have been fomented by
the unprincipled Tissaphernes, induced the new monarch to imprison his
brother; whose death, it was supposed, in course would have followed, but
for the powerful intercession of the queen-mother, Parysatis. Restored,
through her influence, not only to liberty but to the great command
entrusted to him by his indulgent father, Cyrus nevertheless resented
highly the indignity he had suffered.
He seems indeed to have owed little to his brother’s kindness. Jealous
of the abilities and popular character of Cyrus, apprehensive of his
revenge, and perhaps not unreasonably also of his ambition, Artaxerxes
practised that wretched oriental policy of exciting civil war between
the commanders of his provinces, to disable them for making war against
the throne. Orontes, a person related to the royal family, governor of
the citadel of Sardis, was encouraged by the monarch’s councils to rebel
against that superior officer, under whose immediate authority, by those
very councils, he was placed, and ostensibly still required to act. Cyrus
subdued and forgave him. A second opportunity occurring, Orontes again
rebelled; again found himself, notwithstanding the secret patronage of
the court, unable to support his rebellion; and, soliciting pardon,
obtained from the generosity of Cyrus, not pardon only, but favour. But
according to report, to which Xenophon gave credit, the queen-mother
herself, Parysatis, whether urged by the known enmity of Artaxerxes to
Cyrus, or by whatever other cause, incited her younger son to seek the
throne and life of the elder. Thus much, however, appears certain, that,
very soon after his return into Asia Minor, Cyrus began preparations with
that criminal view. For a pretence, it must be allowed, he seems not to
have been totally without what the right of self-defence might afford;
yet his principal motives evidently were ambition and revenge.
The disjointed, tottering, and crumbling state of that empire, which,
under the first Darius, appeared so well compacted, and really was so
powerful and flourishing, favoured his views. Egypt, whose lasting revolt
had been suppressed by the first Artaxerxes, was again in rebellion,
and the fidelity of other distant provinces was more than suspected.
Within his own extensive vice-royalty, the large province of Paphlagonia,
governed by its own tributary prince, paid but a precarious obedience
to the Persian throne; the Mysian and Pisidian mountaineers made open
war upon the more peaceful subjects of the plains; and the Lycaonians,
possessing themselves of the fortified places, held even the level
country in independency, and refused the accustomed tribute. A large part
of Lesser Asia was thus in rebellion, more or less avowed. Hence, on one
hand, the attention of the king’s councils and the exertion of his troops
were engaged; on the other, an undeniable pretence was ready for Cyrus to
increase the military force under his immediate authority.
Cyrus, on his first arrival in the neighbourhood of the Grecian colonies,
became, as we have seen, partial to the Grecian character.
As soon as the design against his brother’s throne was decided, the
younger Cyrus, with increased sedulity, extended his connections among
the Greeks. They alone, among the nations of that time, knew how to
train armies so that thousands of men might act as one machine. Hence
their heavy-armed had a power in the shock of battle that no number of
more irregular troops, however brave, could resist. Through the long
and extensive war lately concluded, Greece abounded with experienced
officers, and with men of inferior rank, much practised in arms, and
little in any peaceful way of livelihood. Opportunity was thus ready
for raising a force of Grecian mercenaries, almost to any amount. What
required circumspection was to avoid alarming the court of Susa; and this
the defective principles and worse practice of the Persian administration
made even easy. Cyrus therefore directed his Grecian commanders, in the
several towns, to enlist Greeks, especially Peloponnesians, as many as
they could; with the pretence of strengthening his garrisons against the
apprehended attempts of Tissaphernes. In Miletus, so the popularity of
his character prevailed, a conspiracy was formed for revolting to him;
but before it could be carried into effect, it was discovered; and, by
the satrap’s order, the ringleaders were executed, and many of their
adherents banished. Cyrus not only protected the fugitives, but besieged
Miletus by land and sea; and this new war furnished an additional
pretence for levying troops.
Notwithstanding the character of frankness, honour, and strict regard
for truth which Cyrus generally supported, the candour of Xenophon, his
friend and panegyrist, has not concealed from us that he could stoop to
duplicity when the great interest of his ambition instigated. So far from
acknowledging any purpose of disobedience to the head of the empire,
he condescended to request from that brother, against whose throne and
life his preparations were already directed, the royal authority for
adding Ionia to his immediate government. The request was granted; at
the instance, it was said, of Parysatis, who preserved much influence
with her elder son, while she incited the nefarious views of the younger
against him.
Among the many Greeks admitted to the conversation and to the table of
Cyrus, was Clearchus, a Lacedæmonian; who, after serving in the armies of
his own commonwealth, through the Peloponnesian War, found himself, at
the age of fifty, still uneasy in rest. Seeking opportunity for military
employment, he thought he had discovered it in the Thracian Chersonesus,
where the Greek settlers were harassed by incursions of the neighbouring
barbarians; and he persevered in representation and solicitation to the
ephors till he obtained a commission for a command there. Hastening his
departure, at Corinth an order of recall overtook him. The disappointment
was more than he could bear; he resolved to disobey the revered scytale;
and proceeded, in defiance of it, to act in pursuance of his commission
received. For this he was, in absence, condemned to death; a sentence
operating to his banishment for life.
What fair hope now remained to Clearchus does not appear; but the need
of military talents, continually and extensively occurring among the
various warring commonwealths and scattered colonies of the Greeks,
always offered some prospect for adventurers of any considerable military
reputation; and, in the moment, a still more inviting field, possibly
always in his view, appeared in the court of Cyrus. Thither he went,
and, under a forbidding outside, a surly countenance, a harsh voice, and
rough manners, the prince discovering in him a character he wanted, after
short intercourse, made him a present of ten thousand darics, near eight
thousand pounds sterling.
Clearchus did not disappoint this magnificent generosity. Employing
the whole of the prince’s present in raising troops, he offered, as
an individual adventurer, that protection to the Chersonesites which,
as a general of the Lacedæmonian forces, he had been commissioned to
give, but which the Lacedæmonian government, though claiming to be the
protecting power of the Grecian name, had finally refused to afford. His
service was accepted; and his success against the barbarians, together
with the uncommon regularity and inoffensiveness of his troops in the
friendly country, so gratified, not the Chersonesites only, but all the
Hellespontine Greeks, that, while he generally found subsistence at the
expense of the enemy, they provided large pay for his army by voluntary
contribution. Hence, with a discipline severe sometimes to excess, he
preserved the general attachment of those under him; and thus a body of
troops was kept in the highest order, ready for the service of Cyrus.
The circumstances of Thessaly afforded another opportunity. Aristippus, a
Thessalian of eminence, probably banished by faction, had been admitted
to the prince’s familiarity. Returning afterwards to his own country,
and becoming head of his party, divisions were still such that civil
war followed. Then Aristippus thought he might profit from that claim
which the ancient doctrine of hospitality gave him upon the generosity
of Cyrus. He requested levy-money for two thousand men, with pay for
three months. Cyrus granted them for four thousand, and six months; only
stipulating that without previous communication with him no accommodation
should be concluded with the adverse party. Thus another body of troops,
unnoticed, was maintained for Cyrus.
Proxenus, a Theban of the first rank and highest connections, happy in
his talents, cultivated under the celebrated Gorgias, of manners to win,
and character to deserve esteem, dissatisfied with the state of things
in his own city, passed, at the age of towards thirty, to the court
of Cyrus, with the direct purpose of seeking employment, honour, and
fortune; and, in Xenophon’s phrase, of so associating with men in the
highest situations that he might earn the means of doing, rather than lie
under the necessity of receiving favours. Recommended by such advantages,
Proxenus not only obtained the notice, but won the friendship of Cyrus,
who commissioned him to raise a Grecian force, pretended for a purpose
which the Persian court could not disapprove, the reduction of the
rebellious Pisidians.
Thus engaged in the prince’s service, it became the care of Proxenus to
obtain in his foreign residence the society of a friend, of disposition,
acquirements, and pursuits congenial to his own. With this view he wrote
to a young Athenian, with whom he had long had intimacy, Xenophon, son of
Gryllus, a scholar of Socrates, warmly urging him to come and partake of
the prince’s favour, to which he engaged to introduce him. In the actual
state of things at Athens enough might occur to disgust honest ambition.
Xenophon therefore, little satisfied with any prospect there, accepted
his friend’s invitation; and to these circumstances we owe his beautiful
narrative of the ensuing transactions, which remains, like the _Iliad_,
the oldest and the model of its kind.
For a Grecian land-force Cyrus contented himself with what might be
procured by negotiation with individuals and the allurement of pay. But
he desired the co-operation of a Grecian fleet, which, in the existing
circumstances of Greece, could be obtained only through favour of the
Lacedæmonian government. By a confidential minister therefore, despatched
to Lacedæmon, he claimed a friendly return for his assistance in the
war with Athens. The ephors, publicly acknowledging the justness of his
claim, sent orders to Samius, then commanding on the Asiatic station, to
join the prince’s fleet, and follow the directions of his admiral, Tamos,
an Egyptian.
Preparation being completed, and the advantageous season for action
approaching, all the Ionian garrisons were ordered to Sardis, and put
under the command of Xenias, the Arcadian, commander of the Grecian
guard, which had attended Cyrus into Upper Asia. The other Grecian troops
were directed to join; some at Sardis, some at places farther eastward.
A very large army of Asiatics, whom the Greeks called collectively
Barbarians, was at the same time assembled. The pretence of these great
preparations was to exterminate the rebellious Pisidians; and, in the
moment, it sufficed for the troops. It could, however, no longer blind
Tissaphernes; who, not choosing to trust others to report what he knew
or suspected, set off, with all the speed that the way of travelling of
an Eastern satrap would admit, with an escort of five hundred horse,
to communicate personally with the king. Meanwhile Cyrus marched from
Sardis, with the forces already collected, by Colossæ to Celænæ in
Phrygia, a large and populous town, where he halted thirty days. There he
was joined by the last division of his Grecian forces, which now amounted
to about eleven thousand heavy-armed, and two thousand targeteers. His
Asiatics or barbarians were near a hundred thousand.[b]
[Illustration: GREEK MARBLE CHAIR]
XENOPHON’S ACCOUNT OF CUNAXA
[Sidenote: [401 B.C.]]
Of the following famous battle-picture, Plutarch wrote glowingly: “Many
historians have described this battle; but Xenophon has done it with such
life and energy that we do not read an account of it--we see it and feel
all the danger.” The praise is not undeserved, and yet as an illuminating
example of the mental attitude of the ancient historian with his love
of long digressions, it should be noted that in the very midmost of the
battle, Xenophon pauses to insert a whole chapter reviewing the life of
Cyrus. This chapter is omitted here, the rest of the description being
given in the antiquated translation made in 1749 by Edward Spelman.[a]
From thence Cyrus proceeded through the Country of Babylon, and in
three days’ march made twelve Parasangs.[5] When they were arrived
at the end of the third day’s march, Cyrus reviewed his Forces, both
Greeks and Barbarians in a Plain about Midnight (for he expected the
King would appear the next Morning, at the Head of his Army, ready to
give him Battle), and gave to Clearchus the Command of the right Wing,
and to Menon the Thessalian that of the left, while he himself drew up
his own Men. After the Review, and as soon as the Day appear’d, there
came Deserters from the Great King, who brought Cyrus an account of his
Army: then Cyrus, having called together the Generals and Captains of
the Greeks, advis’d with them concerning the Order of Battle; when he
encourag’d them by the following Persuasions:
“O Greeks! it is not from any want of Barbarians, that I make use of
you as my Auxiliaries, but because I look upon you as superior to
great Numbers of them; for that reason I have taken you also into my
Service: Shew yourselves therefore worthy of that Liberty you enjoy,
in the possession of which I think you extremely happy; for be assur’d
that I would prefer Liberty before all things I possess. But, that you
may understand what kind of Combat you are going to engage in, I shall
explain it to you: Their Numbers are great, and they come on with mighty
Shouts, which if you can withstand, for the rest I am almost asham’d
to think what kind of Men you will find our Country produces. But you
are Soldiers; behave yourselves with Bravery, and, if any one of you
desires to return home, I will take care to send him back the Envy of his
Country; but I am confident that my Behaviour will engage many of you
rather to follow my Fortunes, than return home.”
Here Gaulites, a banish’d Samian, a Man of Fidelity to Cyrus, being
present, spoke thus: “It is said by some, O Cyrus! that you promise many
things now, because you are in such imminent Danger, which, upon any
Success, you will not remember; and by others, that, though you should
remember your Promises, and desire to perform them, it will not be in
your power.”
Cyrus hearing this, said: “Gentlemen! my paternal Kingdom to the South,
reaches as far as those Climates that are uninhabitable through Heat,
and to the North, as far as those that are so through Cold: Every thing
between is under the Government of my Brother’s Friends; and, if we
conquer, it becomes me to put you, who are my Friends, in possession of
it; so that I am under no apprehension, if we succeed, lest I should not
have enough to bestow on each of my Friends; I only fear, lest I should
not have Friends enow on whom to bestow it. But to each of you Greeks,
besides what I have mention’d, I promise a Crown of Gold.” The Officers,
hearing these things, espous’d his Cause with greater Alacrity, and
made their Report to the rest. After this the Greek Generals, and some
of the private Men came to him to know what they had to expect, if they
were victorious; all whom he sent away big with hopes: and all who were
admitted, advis’d him not to engage personally, but to stand in the Rear.
And then it was that Clearchus put this Question to Cyrus: “Are you of
Opinion, O Cyrus! that your Brother will hazard a Battle?” “Certainly,”
answered Cyrus: “If he is the Son of Darius and Parysatis, and my
Brother. I shall never obtain all this without a stroke.”
While the Soldiers were accomplishing themselves for the Action, the
number of the Greeks was found to amount to ten thousand four hundred
heavy-arm’d Men, and two thousand four hundred Targeteers; and that of
the Barbarians in the Service of Cyrus, to one hundred thousand Men,
with about twenty Chariots armed with Scythes. The Enemy’s Army was
said to amount to twelve hundred thousand Men, and two hundred Chariots
armed with Scythes: they had besides six thousand Horse, under the
Command of Artagerses. These were drawn up before the King. The King’s
Army was commanded by four Generals, Commanders and Leaders, who had
each the Command of three hundred thousand Men; these were Abrocomas,
Tissaphernes, Gobryas, and Arbaces. But of this Number nine hundred
thousand only were present at the Battle, together with one hundred and
fifty Chariots arm’d with Scythes: For Abrocomas coming out of Phœnicia,
arrived five Days after the Action. This was the Account the Deserters
gave to Cyrus before the Battle, which was afterwards confirm’d by the
Prisoners. From thence Cyrus, in one day’s March, made three Parasangs,
all his Forces, both Greeks and Barbarians, marching in Order of Battle;
because he expected the King would fight that day: for in the middle of
their March there was a Trench cut five Fathom broad, and three deep.
This Trench extended twelve Parasangs upwards, traversing the Plain as
far as the Wall of Media. In this Plain are the Canals deriv’d from the
River Tigris; they are four in number, each one hundred Feet in breadth,
and very deep, and barges laden with Corn sail in them: These Canals fall
into the Euphrates; they are distant from one another one Parasang, and
have Bridges over them.
Close to the Euphrates, there was a narrow Pass, between the River and
the Trench, about twenty Feet in breadth. This Trench the Great King,
as soon as he heard Cyrus was marching against him, caus’d to be made
by way of Fortification; through this Pass Cyrus and his Army march’d,
and were now within the Trench. That day the King did not engage, but
many Tracks appear’d both of Horses and Men that retreated. Here Cyrus,
sending for Silanus, the Soothsayer of Ambracia, gave him three thousand
Darics,[6] because the eleventh Day before that, when he was offering
Sacrifice, he told Cyrus that the King would not fight within ten Days:
Upon which Cyrus said, “If he does not fight within ten Days, he will
not fight at all: And, if what you say proves true, I’ll give you ten
Talents;” which Sum, the ten Days being expir’d, he then paid him. Since
therefore the King had suffer’d the Army of Cyrus to march through this
Pass unmolested, both Cyrus and the rest concluded that he had given over
all Thoughts of fighting: so that the next Day Cyrus march’d with less
Circumspection; and the third day he rode on his Car, very few marching
before him in their Ranks; great part of the Soldiers observ’d no Order,
many of their Arms being carried in Waggons, and upon sumpter Horses.
It was now about the time of Day, when the Market is usually crowded, the
Army being near the place, where they propos’d to encamp, when Patagyas,
a Persian, one of those whom Cyrus most confided in, was seen riding
towards them full speed, his Horse all in a Sweat, and immediately called
to every one he met, both in his own Language, and in Greek, that the
King was at hand with a vast Army, marching in Order of Battle. Upon
this there was great Confusion, the Greeks and all the rest expecting he
would charge them, before they had put themselves in Order: and Cyrus
leaping from his Car, put on his Corslet, then mounting his Horse, took
his Javelins in his Hand, and order’d all the rest to arm, and every Man
to take his Post: They quickly form’d themselves, Clearchus on the right
Wing, close to the Euphrates, and next to him Proxenus, and after him the
rest: Menon and his Men were posted upon the left of the Greek Army. Of
the Barbarians a thousand Paphlagonian Horse, with the Greek Targeteers,
stood next to Clearchus on the right. Upon the left Ariæus, Cyrus’
Lieutenant-General, was plac’d with the rest of the Barbarians. Cyrus put
himself in the Center with six hundred Horse: they had large Corslets,
and Cuisses, and all of them Helmets, but Cyrus, who stood ready for
the Charge, with his Head unarm’d; they say it is also customary for
the rest of the Persians to expose themselves in a day of Action in
the same manner: All the Horses in Cyrus’ Army had both Frontlets and
Breast-plates, and the Horsemen Greek Swords.
It was now the middle of the Day, and no Enemy was yet to be seen. In
the Afternoon there appear’d a Dust like a white Cloud, which not long
after spread itself like a Darkness over the Plain; when they drew
nearer, immediately the brazen Armour flash’d, and their Spears and Ranks
appear’d: The Enemy had on their left a Body of Horse arm’d in white
Corslets (these were said to be commanded by Tissaphernes), next came
those with Persian Bucklers, and next to them heavy-arm’d Men with wooden
Shields, reaching down to their Feet (these were said to be Egyptians);
then other Horse and other Archers. All these marched according to their
respective Countries, each Nation being drawn up in a solid oblong
Square: And before them were disposed the Chariots arm’d with Scythes,
at a considerable distance from one another. These Chariots had Scythes
fix’d aslant at the Axle-Trees, with others under the Body of the
Chariot, pointing downwards, that so they might cut asunder every thing
they encounter’d. The Design of these Chariots was to break the Ranks of
the Greeks.
It now appear’d that Cyrus, when he had exhorted the Greeks to withstand
the Shouts of the Barbarians, was mistaken; for they did not come on
with Shouts, but as silently and quietly as possible, and in an equal
and slow March. Here Cyrus, riding along the Ranks with Pigres the
Interpreter, and three or four others, called to Clearchus to bring his
Men over-against the Center of the Enemy, because the King was there:
And if we break that, says he, our Work is done. But Clearchus observing
their Center, and understanding from Cyrus that the King was beyond the
left Wing of the Greek Army (for the King was so much superior in number,
that, when he stood in the Center of his own Army, he was beyond the left
Wing of that of Cyrus) Clearchus, I say, would not however be prevail’d
on to withdraw his right from the River, fearing to be surrounded on both
sides: but answer’d Cyrus, He would take care that all should go well.
Now the Barbarians came regularly on: and the Greek Army standing on the
same Ground, the Ranks were form’d, as the Men came up. In the mean time
Cyrus, riding at a small distance before the Ranks, survey’d both the
Enemy’s Army and his own: Whom Xenophon, an Athenian, observing from the
Greek Army, he rode up to him, and ask’d him, whether he had any thing
to command; Cyrus, stopping his Horse, order’d him to let them all know,
that the Sacrifices and Victims promis’d success. While he was saying
this, he heard a Noise running through the Ranks, and ask’d him what
Noise it was; Xenophon answer’d, that the Word was now giving for the
second time; Cyrus wonder’d who should give it, and ask’d him what the
Word was; the other replied, Jupiter the Preserver, and Victory: Which
Cyrus hearing, said, I accept it, let That be the Word. After he had said
this, he return’d to his Post.
The two Armies being within three or four Stadia of each other, the
Greeks sung the Pæan, and advanced: As this Motion occasion’d a small
Fluctuation in the Line of Battle, those who were left behind, hasten’d
their march, and at once they gave a general Shout, as their Custom is
when they invoke the God of War, and all ran on. Some say they struck
their Shields with their Pikes to frighten the Enemy’s Horses. But the
Barbarians, before they came within the Reach of their Darts, turn’d
their Horses and fled, and the Greeks pursued them as fast as they could,
calling out to one another not to run, but to follow in their Ranks. Here
some of the Chariots were borne through their own People without their
Charioteers, others through the Greeks, some of whom seeing them coming,
divided; while others being amaz’d, like Spectators in the Hippodrome,
were taken unawares; but even these were reported to have received no
harm, neither was there any other Greek hurt in the Action, except one
upon the left Wing, who was said to have been wounded by an Arrow.
Cyrus seeing the Greeks victorious on their side, and in pursuit of the
Enemy, rejoic’d, and was already worshipp’d as King by those about him;
however, he was not so far transported as to leave his Post, and join in
the Pursuit; but, keeping his six hundred Horse in a Body, he observ’d
the King’s Motions; well knowing that he was in the Center of the Persian
Army: for in all Barbarian Armies, the Generals ever place themselves in
the Center, looking upon that Post as the safest, on each side of which
their Strength is equally divided, and, if they have occasion to give
out any Orders, these are receiv’d in half the time by the Army. The
King therefore being at that time in the Center of his own Battle, was,
however, beyond the left Wing of Cyrus; and, when he saw none oppos’d him
in front, nor any Motion made to charge the Troops that were drawn up
before him, he wheel’d to the left, in order to surround their Army. Upon
this Cyrus, fearing he should get behind him, and cut off the Greeks,
advanc’d against the King, and charging with his six hundred Horse, broke
those who were drawn up before him, put the six thousand Men to flight,
and, as they say, killed with his own Hand Artagerses, their Commander.
These being broken, the six hundred also belonging to Cyrus dispers’d
themselves in the Pursuit, very few being left about him, and those
almost all Persons who used to eat at his Table; being accompanied with
these, he discovered the King, and those about him, and, unable to
contain himself, immediately cried out, I see the Man; then ran furiously
at him, and, striking him on the Breast, wounded him through his Corslet,
as Ctesias the Physician says, who affirms that he cur’d the Wound.
While he was giving the Blow, somebody threw a Javelin at him with great
force, and wounded him under the Eye: and now the King and Cyrus engag’d
hand to hand, and those about them, in defence of each. In this Action
Ctesias (who was with the King) informs us how many fell on his side; on
the other, Cyrus himself was killed, and eight the most considerable of
his Friends lay dead upon him. When Artapates, who was in the greatest
Trust with him of any of his scepter’d Ministers, saw Cyrus fall, they
say, he leap’d from his Horse, and threw himself about him: some say, the
King order’d Artapates to be slain upon the Body of Cyrus; others, that,
drawing his Scimitar, he slew himself: for, he wore a golden Scimitar,
a Chain, Bracelets, and other Ornaments, which are worn by the most
considerable Persians; and was held in great esteem by Cyrus, both for
his Affection and Fidelity.
When Cyrus was dead, his Head and right Hand were cut off upon the spot,
and the King, with his Men, in the Pursuit, broke into his Camp; while
those with Ariæus, no longer made a stand, but fled through their own
Camp to their former Post, which was said to be four Parasangs from the
Field of Battle. The King, with his Forces, among many other things, took
Cyrus’ Mistress, a Phocæan, who was said to be a Woman of great Sense
and Beauty. The other, a Milesian, who was the younger of the two, was
also taken by the King’s Troops, but escap’d naked to the Quarter of the
Greeks, who were left to guard the Baggage. These, forming themselves,
kill’d many of those who were plundering the Camp, and lost some of their
own Men; however, they did not fly, but sav’d the Milesian, with the Men
and Effects, and, in general, every thing else that was in their Quarter.
By this time the King and the Greeks were at the distance of about thirty
Stadia from one another, these pursuing the Enemy that were opposite to
them, as if they had gain’d a complete Victory; and the King’s Troops
plundering the Camp of the Greeks, as if they also had been every where
victorious. But, when the Greeks were inform’d, that the King, with his
Men, was among their Baggage, and the King, on his side, heard from
Tissaphernes, that the Greeks had put those before them to flight, and
were gone forward in the Pursuit, he then rallied his Forces, and put
them in order. On the other side, Clearchus consulted with Proxenus, who
was nearest to him, whether they should send a Detachment, or should all
march to relieve the Camp.
In the mean time the King was observ’d to move forward again, and seem’d
resolved to fall upon their Rear; upon which the Greeks faced about, and
put themselves in a posture to march that way, and receive him. However,
the King did not advance that way; But, as before, he pass’d beyond
their left Wing, so now he led his Men back the same Way, taking along
with him those who had deserted to the Greeks during the Action, and
also Tissaphernes with his Forces: for Tissaphernes did not fly at the
first Onset, but penetrated with his Horse, where the Greek Targeteers
were posted, quite as far as the River: However, in breaking through, he
killed none of their Men, but the Greeks, dividing, wounded his People
both with their Swords and Darts. Episthenes of Amphipolis commanded the
Targeteers, and shewed great conduct upon this occasion.
Tissaphernes, therefore, sensible of his Disadvantage, departed, then;
coming to the Camp of the Greeks, he found the King there, and reuniting
their Forces, they advanc’d. When they came opposite to the left of the
Greeks, these were afraid they should attack their Wing, and, by wheeling
to the right and left, annoy them on both sides; to avoid which, they
resolv’d to open that Wing, and cover the Rear with the River. While they
were consulting upon this, the King marched by them, and drew up his Army
opposite to theirs, in the same Order in which he first engag’d. When the
Greeks saw them draw near in Order of Battle, they again sung the Pæan,
and went on with much more Alacrity than before. However, the Barbarians
did not stay to receive them, but fled sooner than the first time: and
the Greeks pursued them to a Village. There they halted; for there was
an Eminence above the Village, upon which the King’s Forces fac’d about.
He had no Foot with him, but the Hill was cover’d with Horse in such a
manner, that it was not possible for the Greeks to see what was doing:
However, they said they saw the royal Ensign there, which was a golden
Eagle with its Wings extended, resting upon a Spear.
When the Greeks advanc’d towards them, the Horse quitted the Hill, some
running one way, and some another: However, the Hill was clear’d of them
by degrees, and at last they all left it. Clearchus did not march up
the Hill with his Men, but, halting at the Foot of it, sent Lycius the
Syracusan, and another, with Orders to reconnoitre the place, and make
their Report; Lycius rode up the Hill, and, having view’d it, brought
Word that the Enemy fled in all haste. While these things were doing, it
grew near Sunset. Here the Greeks halted, and lying under their Arms,
rested themselves. In the mean time they wonder’d that neither Cyrus
appear’d any where, nor any one from him; for they did not know he was
dead; but imagin’d, that he was either led away by the Pursuit, or had
rode forward to possess himself of some Post. Hereupon they consulted
among themselves, whether they should stay where they were, and send for
their Baggage, or return to their Camp. At last they resolv’d to return:
And arriv’d at their Tents about Supper-time; And this was the end of
that Day. There they found the greatest part of their Baggage plunder’d,
with all the Provisions, and also the Carriages full of Flour and Wine,
which Cyrus had prepar’d, in order to distribute them among the Greeks,
if at any time his Army should labour under the want of Necessaries. It
was said these Carriages amounted to four hundred: which were then all
rifled by the King’s Troops, so that the greatest part of the Greeks had
no Supper, neither had they eaten any Dinner; for, before the Army could
halt in order to dine, the King appear’d. And in this Manner they passed
the Night.[c]
[Illustration: GREEK SEALS]
THE RETREAT
When the battle of Cunaxa was over, the Greeks, whose camp meanwhile
had been pillaged, rejected the Persian king’s demand for unconditional
surrender, and, although their numbers by this time were reduced to ten
thousand, determined to fight their way through to Asia Minor, a task
which involved marching through a hostile country for a distance which
measured 1850 miles by the route they had taken from Ephesus to Cunaxa.
Xenophon, one of their leaders, has made this march of the Greeks,
which is commonly known as the Retreat of the Ten Thousand, the subject
of a separate work. It is one of the most famous military exploits of
antiquity and sets the superiority of Greece in the most brilliant light,
for the bold and successful enterprise of these ten thousand Greeks does
not redound to their glory alone. It is the common possession of their
age, their nation, and the culture which it had attained; and marks in
the most striking fashion the contrast of the relative values of Persian
and Greek civilisation and political institutions. A handful of Greeks
bid splendid defiance to the sovereign of the enormous Persian empire, to
the sheer bulk of his army, and to all the intrigues of his satraps. It
was the victory of Greek subtlety and skill over the rigid and mechanical
organisation of Persia, of Greek science over the intellectual poverty of
the East, of Greek tactics over Persian confusion; finally, of a genuine
sense of honour and patriotic pride over craft, cowardice, and servility.
The route which the Ten Thousand took was not the same by which they had
marched to Cunaxa; it lay through Mesopotamia, Media, Armenia, and along
the southern shore of the Black Sea to Thrace. The valiant Greeks did not
know their way through these countries; they had neither maps nor any
trustworthy guide; they had to march through desert and wilderness, to
cross mountains and ravines, to pass through barbarous tribes and whole
provinces in arms; nevertheless they succeeded in reaching the frontier
of their own land with comparatively slight loss.
Soon after they had begun their march, Artaxerxes concluded a treaty with
them through the mediation of the satrap Tissaphernes, who had succeeded
to the satrapy of Cyrus, in virtue of which they were to be allowed
to proceed home undisturbed, escorted by the latter at the head of a
Persian army, and supplied with the requisite provisions by the way. But
Tissaphernes kept the Greeks waiting for more than twenty days before
he returned from the king’s camp, and when at length he did return and
set forth with them on their way through Media, he showed himself of so
suspicious a temper and fostered such constant and increasing friction
between the Greek troops and his own, that at last Clearchus, the Greek
commander, begged for an interview with the satrap. This was granted, and
Clearchus, confiding in the honour of the hostile leader, went to the
Persian camp accompanied by all the twenty-four officers who composed
his military council. As soon as they reached it they were treacherously
taken prisoners and their guard cut down. They were presently carried off
to the royal capital and there put to death together.
The Persians hoped to throw the Greeks into confusion by this treacherous
blow, and so vanquish them without much trouble; but they were not a
little amazed when (in striking contrast to the spirit and organisation
of their own army) a new body of generals and new subordinate officers
sprang immediately and, as it were, spontaneously into being from the
ranks of the Greek privates and subalterns. For in the Greek army fresh
appointments to all posts were made every year; there was no regular
promotion and no officer held permanent rank; on the contrary, the man
who one year occupied the position of an officer frequently served as a
private soldier the next. By this means almost every private soldier was
qualified to step into the place of an officer, and it was an easy matter
to appoint fresh leaders to the large and small divisions of the army.
Xenophon, who had hitherto accompanied the march, neither in the capacity
of private nor officer, but merely as a friend and comrade of one of the
generals, was the first after the treacherous act of Tissaphernes to
urge his countrymen not to yield to the Persian demand for submission,
but to fight their way sword in hand through the enemy’s country. Only
one of the colonels and captains who gathered about him demurred to his
proposal. This aroused the suspicions of the rest, and, marking him
more narrowly, they perceived by his pierced ears that he was by birth
no Greek but a Persian. He was promptly expelled, and Xenophon and four
others were appointed to succeed the generals captured by the Persians.
From that day forward Xenophon was the soul of the Greek army, which owed
its ultimate deliverance to him and in whom it rightly reposed absolute
confidence. He was prudent enough not to command in his own name, but
in that of Chirisophus of Sparta, though the latter was wholly devoid
of the capacity and knowledge requisite for leading his countrymen home
through the heart of the Persian empire. Xenophon’s motive in this was,
on the one hand, to avoid making himself obnoxious to the Spartans, who
had become masters of Greece by the Peloponnesian War, and on the other,
to keep his own people under stricter discipline through the terror of a
Spartan leader. Directed by an admirable tactical skill, which was equal
to every fresh demand of place or circumstance, the Greeks continued
their march, perpetually pursued and harassed by the Persians, to the
rugged and inhospitable mountain country about the Upper Tigris. Here
they came in contact with the fierce and warlike tribe of the Carduchi,
who, like the Kurds of to-day who may be their descendants, had never
been conquered, and who rejected all overtures for permission to pass
through their territory in peace. The Persians, not daring to venture
farther, now gave up the pursuit of the Ten Thousand, and the latter
marched into the rugged and precipitous country of the Carduchi, and
in spite of the constant attacks of the inhabitants succeeded by the
superiority of their military discipline and experience in reaching the
other side of the mountain range and the frontiers of Armenia in seven
days. This march through the country of the Carduchi was the most arduous
part of their journey and cost them more loss and suffering than all the
attacks of the Persian army.[e] We turn again to the vivid description in
Xenophon’s own words as Englished by Spelman.
XENOPHON’S PICTURE OF THE HARDSHIPS
In the country of the Taochians, their Provisions began to fail them:
For the Taochians inhabited Fastnesses, into which they had convey’d
all their Provisions. At last the army arriv’d at a strong Place, which
had neither City nor Houses upon it, but where great Numbers of Men
and Women with their Cattle were assembled. This Place Chirisophus
order’d to be attack’d the Moment he came before it, and, when the first
Company suffer’d another went up, and then another; for the Place being
surrounded with Precipices, they could not attack it on all Sides at
once. When Xenophon came up with the Rear-Guard, the Targeteers and
heavy-arm’d Men, Chirisophus said to him, “You come very seasonably, for
this Place must be taken, otherwise the Army will be starved.”
Upon this they call’d a Council of War, and Xenophon demanding, what
could hinder them from carrying the Place; Chirisophus answer’d, “there
is no other Access to it but This, and, when any of our Men attempt to
gain it, they roll down Stones from the impending Rock, and those they
light upon are treated as you see”; pointing at the same time to some of
the Men, whose Legs and Ribs were broken. “But,” says Xenophon, “when
they have consum’d all the Stones they have, what can hinder us then from
going up? For I can see nothing to oppose us, but a few Men, and of these
not above two or three that are arm’d. The Space, you see, through which
we must pass expos’d to these Stones, is about one hundred and fifty
Feet in Length, of which that of one hundred Feet is cover’d with large
Pines, growing in Groups, against which, if our Men place themselves,
what can they suffer, either from the Stones that are thrown, or rolled
down by the Enemy? The remaining Part of this Space is not above fifty
Feet, which, when the Stones cease, we must dispatch with all possible
Expedition.” “But,” says Chirisophus, “the Moment we offer to go to the
Place that is cover’d with the Trees, they will shower down Stones upon
us.” “That,” replies Xenophon, “is the very Thing we want, for by this
Means they will be consum’d the sooner. However,” continues he, “let us,
if we can, advance to that Place, from whence we may have but a little
Way to run, and from whence we may also, if we see convenient, retreat
with Ease.”
Upon this, Chirisophus and Xenophon, with Callimachus of Parrhasia, one
of the Captains, advanced (for the last had the command that Day of the
Captains in the Rear), all the rest of the Officers standing out of
Danger. Then about seventy of the Men advanc’d under the Trees, not in
a Body, but one by one, each sheltering himself as well as he could:
While Agasias the Stymphalian and Aristonymus of Methydria, who were also
Captains belonging to the Rear, with some others, stood behind, without
the Trees, for it was not safe for more than one Company to be there.
Upon this Occasion Callimachus made Use of the following Stratagem. He
advanc’d two or three Paces from the Tree under which he stood; but, as
soon as the Stones began to fly, he quickly retir’d, and, upon every
Excursion, more than ten Cart-Loads of Stones were consum’d. When
Agasias saw what Callimachus was doing, and that the Eyes of the whole
Army were upon him, fearing lest he should be the first Man who enter’d
the Place, he, without giving any Notice to Aristonymus, who stood next
to him, or to Eurylochus, of Lusia, both of whom were his friends, or to
any other Person, advanc’d alone, with a Design to get before the rest.
When Callimachus saw him passing by, he laid hold of the Border of his
Shield. In the mean Time Aristonymus, and, after him, Eurylochus ran by
them both: For all these were Rivals in Glory, and in constant Emulation
of each other. And, by contending thus, they took the Place: For, the
Moment one of them had gain’d the Ascent, there were no more Stones
thrown from above.
And here followed a dreadful Spectacle indeed; for the Women first
threw their Children down the Precipice, and then themselves. Then Men
did the same. And here Æneas the Stymphalian, a Captain, seeing one of
the Barbarians, who was richly dress’d, running with a Design to throw
himself down, caught hold of him, and the other drawing him after, they
both fell down the Precipice together, and were dashed to Pieces. Thus we
made very few Prisoners, but took a considerable Quantity of Oxen, Asses,
and Sheep.
From thence the Greeks advanc’d, through the Country of the Chalybians,
and, in seven Marches, made fifty Parasangs. These being the most
valiant People they met with in all their March, they came to a close
engagement with the Greeks. They had linen Corslets that reach’d below
their Navel, and, instead of Tassels, thick Cords twisted. They had also
Greaves and Helmets, and at their Girdle a short Faulchion, like those
of the Lacedæmonians, with which they cut the Throats of those they
over-power’d, and afterwards, cutting off their Heads, carried them away
in Triumph. It was their Custom to sing and dance, whenever they thought
the Enemy saw them. They had Pikes fifteen Cubits in length, with only
one Point. They staid in their Cities till the Greeks march’d past them,
and then followed harassing them perpetually. After that they retir’d
to their strong Holds, into which they had conveyed their Provisions:
So that the Greeks could supply themselves with nothing out of their
Country, but liv’d upon the Cattle they had taken from the Taochians.
They now came to the River Harpasus, which was four hundred Feet broad.
And from thence advanc’d through the Country of the Scythinians, and, in
four Days’ March, made twenty Parasangs, passing through a Plain into
some Villages; in which they staid three Days, and made their Provisions.
From this Place they made, in four Days’ March, twenty Parasangs, to a
large and rich City well inhabited: It was called Gymnias. The Governour
of this Country sent a Person to the Greeks, to conduct them through
the Territories of his Enemies. This Guide, coming to the Army, said he
would undertake, in five Days, to carry them to a Place, from whence they
should see the Sea. If not, he consented to be put to death. And, when
he had conducted them into the Territories belonging to his Enemies,
he desired them to lay waste the Country with Fire and Sword. By which
it was evident that he came with this View, and not from any Good-will
he bore to the Greeks. The fifth Day they arriv’d at the holy Mountain
called Theches. As soon as the Men, who were in the Vanguard, ascended
the Mountain, and saw the Sea, they gave a great Shout, which, when
Xenophon and those in the Rear, heard, they concluded that some other
Enemies attack’d them in Front, for the People belonging to the Country
they had burn’d, follow’d their Rear, some of whom those who had Charge
of it, had killed, and taken others Prisoners in an Ambuscade. They had
also taken twenty Bucklers made of raw Ox-hides with the hair on.
The Noise still increasing as they came nearer, and the Men, as fast as
they came up, running to those who still continued Shouting, their Cries
swelled with their Numbers, so that Xenophon, thinking something more
than ordinary had happen’d, mounted on Horse-back, and, taking with him
Lycius and his Horse, rode up to their Assistance: And presently they
heard the Soldiers calling out “The Sea! The Sea!” and cheering one
another. At this they all set a running, the Rear-guard as well as the
rest, and the Beasts of Burden, and Horses were driven forward. When they
were all come up to the Top of the Mountain, they embraced one another,
and also their Generals and Captains with Tears in their Eyes. And
Immediately the Men, by whose Order it is not known, bringing together
a great many Stones, made a large Mount, upon which they plac’d a great
Quantity of Shields made of raw Ox-hides, Staves, and Bucklers taken from
the Enemy. The Guide himself cut the Bucklers in Pieces, and exhorted the
rest to do the same. After this the Greeks sent back their Guide, giving
him Presents out of the publick Stock, these were a Horse, a silver Cup,
a Persian Dress, and ten Darics. But, above all Things the Guide desir’d
the Soldiers to give him some of their Rings, many of which they gave
him. Having therefore shewn them a Village, where they were to Quarter,
and the Road that led to the Macronians, when the Evening came on, he
departed, setting out on his Return that Night.[c]
END OF THE MARCH
[Sidenote: [401-399 B.C.]]
At length, four months after the battle of Cunaxa, they entered Trapezus,
the first Greek city they came to, and celebrated their safe arrival
among their kindred with sacrifices and games. From this point they
continued their retreat, some by sea and some by land. But when the air
of Greece breathed upon them once more and the fear of the barbarians was
overpast, discord and greed crept in amongst them, and they proved such
troublesome guests that even the inhabitants of the Greek colonies along
the southern shore of the Black Sea tried to get rid of them as speedily
as possible. Making many raids in search of booty and suffering no small
loss on the way, they came through Bithynia to Byzantium, and thence
proceeded to the interior of Thrace, where Seuthes, who then ruled the
country, engaged the rude and bellicose adventurers into whom the remnant
of the Ten Thousand had degenerated. For some months they assisted him to
extend his sovereignty over various Thracian tribes. Finally they were
enlisted by the Spartans, who were then at war with the Persian empire,
and so went back to Asia.
The remnant of the whole force amounted to six thousand men, the distance
they had traversed from the battle-field of Cunaxa to about the middle
of the south coast of the Black Sea to not less than two thousand miles.
This they had done in eight months. But the whole march, from Ephesus
to Cunaxa and thence to this region on the Black Sea, occupied fifteen
months (from February, 401, to the beginning of June, 400 B.C.), and the
march from the latter place to the spot where they joined the Spartan
army in Asia Minor (March, 399 B.C.) took nine months.
Xenophon, who had rendered the most conspicuous service on this memorable
march, returned to Greece after he had led the remnant of the Ten
Thousand to the Spartan army in Asia Minor. Some years later he took
part in the expedition against the Persians conducted by his friend the
Spartan king, Agesilaus, and after the return of the latter fought at the
battle of Coronea. While he was in Asia with Agesilaus he was banished
from his native city by a vote of the people, because he had taken part
in a war against the Persian king, who was at that time an ally of
Athens, and because his aristocratic opinions and his preference for the
political system of Sparta had earned him the hatred of the demagogues
and the jealousy of the populace. After the battle of Coronea he
accompanied Agesilaus to Sparta and remained there for a while, and then
settled on a country estate in the neighbourhood of Olympia, which he
had either received as a gift from the Spartans or bought with the great
wealth he had amassed in Asia. Here and in Corinth he wrote some part
of his works. The sentence of banishment from Athens was soon repealed,
but it does not seem probable that he ever returned to his native city,
though at a later time he induced his son Gryllus to take part in one of
the military expeditions of the Athenians. Gryllus fell at the battle of
Mantinea, and the story goes that the news of his death was brought to
his aged father as he was standing by an altar, sacrificing to the gods.
Xenophon was crowned with a garland, in accordance with the Greek custom
of wearing wreaths upon festal occasions. He immediately took it from his
head, but received the news of his son’s death with the utmost composure,
saying that he knew he had only begotten a mortal. When he was told
that Gryllus had fought with great valour, he put the garland on again,
finished his sacrifice, and added to it a prayer in which he gave thanks
to the gods for his son’s worthiness. Xenophon died at Corinth in (355
B.C.) the ninetieth year of his age.[e]
THE MEANING OF XENOPHON’S FEAT
[Sidenote: [399 B.C.]]
The world has never ceased to thrill with a sympathetic memory of that
glad cry of Xenophon’s Ten Thousand, “_Thalatta! Thalatta!_” (The sea!
The sea!) It has a kinship with the feelings of the foot-sore and
heart-sore children of Israel reaching the edge of the Promised Land. It
stands out from above the usual crises of history as a temple dome above
a town. It takes its place among such peaks of emotion as the view that
Attila took of Rome, and the crusaders of the minarets of Jerusalem, the
cry of “Land ho!” on the ships of Columbus. It finds a strangely modern
parallel in the first ocean-glimpse of the American soldiers in Sherman’s
march to the sea.
Like all these picturesque incidents, it meant more than a merely
dramatic moment to the history of mankind. It was a prelude in Greek
history to the triumph of Alexander. It showed to the Greeks that their
ambitions need not be confined to the small parishes they had dwelt in.
It revealed the fact that the great realm of the Persian monarch, whom
the Greeks always referred to as “The King,” was like Dead Sea fruit:
brilliant in its shell, and hollow corruption at core. The only impetus
the Greeks had felt towards a Panhellenic spirit had been inspired by the
imminence of the Persian danger. They had with small bands of patriots
dispersed the droves of oriental subjects brought against them, and yet
they could not have dreamed that their success in an offensive war would
be equal to the glory of the defensive struggle.
But here was a lessening body of ten thousand Greeks, bound together
by no common sentiment except a desire for money--which they did not
get. And this comparative handful of mercenaries had ransacked the
very innermost recesses of the Persian empire, and had never found an
army great enough or brave enough to withstand it in open assault. The
conquest of such an empire seemed to be within the grasp of any Greek
commander. The first to attempt it was a second-rate Spartan king,
Agesilaus, who failed. And the Persian empire resisted attack for five
generations more, till the new blood of Macedonia and the unlimited
ambitions of Alexander made the attempt. Until he came, the blows of the
others were only so much callisthenics. When he came he was not loath to
acknowledge, on the eve of the battle of Issus, the inspiration he owed
to the feat of the Ten Thousand.
Meanwhile, without reference to its remote bearings, the anabasis and
catabasis of Xenophon’s army stand forth glorious in themselves. He
himself sums up the achievement baldly at the conclusion of his work.
[Sidenote: [401-399 B.C.]]
“The governors of The King’s country, as much of it as we went through,
were these: of Lydia, Artemas; of Phrygia, Artacamas; of Lycaonia and
Cappadocia, Mithridates; of Cilicia, Syennesis; of Phœnicia and Arabia,
Dernes; of Syria and Assyria, Belesys; of Babylon, Rhoparas; of Media,
Arbaces; of the Phasiani and Hesperitæ, Tiribazus; the Carduchi, the
Chalybes, the Chaldeans, the Macrones, the Colchians, the Mosynœci,
the Cœtæ, and the Tibareni, were independent nations; of Paphlagonia,
Corylas; of the Bithynians, Pharnabazus; and of the Thracians in Europe,
Seuthes.
“The computation of the whole journey, the anabasis and catabasis, was
215 days’ march, 1155 parasangs, 34,650 stadia. The length of time
occupied in the anabasis and catabasis was one year and three months.”
Reckoning the parasang at three and two-fifths miles, the total distance
covered would therefore be 3927 miles in the course of fifteen months.
The manuscripts do not all agree with regard to the numbers, but the
total march may be accepted as nearly four thousand miles, through a
country bristling with hostility and treachery, a country unmapped and
unknown to the Greeks. This exploit of what might well be termed a pack
of desperadoes looms high in history, both as an absolute feat of bravado
and as a finger-post for Grecian ambition.[a]
FOOTNOTES
[5] [A parasang was equal to about 3⅖ English miles.]
[6] [A daric, named after Darius, was a gold coin of about the weight of
a sovereign, or five dollars. An Attic talent was valued at about £200 or
$1000.]
[Illustration]
[Illustration: GREEK MEDAL]