THE EXPEDITION OF THE GREEKS UNDER CYRUS, AND RETREAT OF THE TEN
THOUSAND, B.C. 401-400.
The assistance which Cyrus had rendered to the Lacedaemonians in the
Peloponnesian war led to a remarkable episode in Grecian history. This
was the celebrated expedition of Cyrus against his brother Artaxerxes,
in which the superiority of Grecian to Asiatic soldiers was so
strikingly shown.
The death of Darius Nothus, king of Persia, took place B.C. 404,
shortly before the battle of AEgospotami. Cyrus, who was present at
his father's death, was charged by Tissaphernes with plotting against
his elder brother Artaxerxes, who succeeded to the throne. The
accusation was believed by Artaxerxes, who seized his brother, and
would have put him to death, but for the intercession of their mother,
Parysatis, who persuaded him not only to spare Cyrus but to confirm him
in his former government. Cyrus returned to Sardis burning with
revenge, and fully resolved to make an effort to dethrone his brother.
From his intercourse with the Greeks Cyrus had become aware of their
superiority to the Asiatics, and of their usefulness in such an
enterprise as he now contemplated. The peace which followed the
capture of Athens seemed favourable to his projects. Many Greeks, bred
up in the practice of war during the long struggle between that city
and Sparta, were now deprived of their employment, whilst many more had
been driven into exile by the establishment of the Spartan oligarchies
in the various conquered cities. Under the pretence of a private war
with the satrap, Tissaphernes, Cyrus enlisted large numbers of them in
his service. The Greek in whom he placed most confidence was
Clearchus, a Lacedaemonian, and formerly harmost of Byzantium, who had
been condemned to death by the Spartan authorities for disobedience to
their orders.
It was not, however, till the beginning of the year B.C. 401 that the
enterprise of Cyrus was ripe for execution. The Greek levies were then
withdrawn from the various towns in which they were distributed, and
concentrated in Sardis, to the number of about 8000; and in March or
April of this year Cyrus marched from Sardis with them, and with an
army of 100,000 Asiatics. The object of the expedition was proclaimed
to be an attack upon the mountain-freebooters of Pisidia; its real
destination was a secret to every one except Cyrus himself and
Clearchus. Among the Greek soldiers was Xenophon, an Athenian knight,
to whom we owe a narrative of the expedition. He went as a volunteer,
at the invitation of his friend Proxenus, a Boeotian, and one of the
generals of Cyrus.
The march of Cyrus was directed through Lydia and Phrygia. After
passing Colossae he arrived at Colaenae, where he was joined by more
Greek troops, the number of whom now amounted to 11,000 hoplites and
2000 peltasts. The line of march, which had been hitherto straight
upon Pisidia, was now directed northwards. Cyrus passed in succession
the Phrygian towns of Peltae, Ceramon Agora, the Plain of Cayster,
Thymbrium, Tyriaeum, and Iconium, the last city in Phrygia. Thence he
proceeded through Lycaonia to Dana, and across Mount Taurus into
Cilicia.
On arriving at Tarsus, a city on the coast of Cilicia, the Greeks
plainly saw that they had been deceived, and that the expedition was
designed against the Persian king. Seized with alarm at the prospect
of so long a march, they sent a deputation to Cyrus to ask him what his
real intentions were. Cyrus replied that his design was to march
against his enemy, Abrocomas, satrap of Syria, who was encamped on the
banks of the Euphrates. The Greeks, though they still suspected a
delusion, contented themselves with this answer in the face of their
present difficulties, especially as Cyrus promised to raise their pay
from one Daric to one Daric and a half a month. The whole army then
marched forwards to Issus, the last town in Cilicia, seated on the gulf
of the same name. Here they met the fleet, which brought them a
reinforcement of 1100 Greek soldiers, thus raising the Grecian force to
about 14,000 men.
Abrocomas, who commanded for the Great King in Syria and Phoenicia,
alarmed at the rapid progress of Cyrus, fled before him with all his
army, reported as 300,000 strong; abandoning the impregnable pass
situated one day's march from Issus, and known as the Gates of Cilicia
and Syria. Marching in safety through this pass, the army next reached
Myriandrus, a seaport of Phoenicia. From this place Cyrus struck off
into the interior, over Mount Amanus. Twelve days' march brought him
to Thapsacus on the Euphrates, where for the first time he formally
notified to the army that he was marching to Babylon against his
brother Artaxerxes, The water happened to be very low, scarcely
reaching to the breast; and Abrocomas made no attempt to dispute the
passage. The army now entered upon the desert, where the Greeks were
struck with the novel sights which met their view, and at once amused
and exhausted themselves in the chase of the wild ass and the antelope,
or in the vain pursuit of the scudding ostrich. After several days of
toilsome march the army at length reached Pylae, the entrance into the
cultivated plains of Babylonia, where they halted a few days to refresh
themselves.
Soon after leaving that place symptoms became perceptible of a vast
hostile force moving in their front. The exaggerated reports of
deserters stated it at 1,200,000 men; its real strength was about
900,000. In a characteristic address Cyrus exhorted the Greeks to take
no heed of the multitude of their enemies; they would find in them, he
affirmed nothing but numbers and noise, and, if they could bring
themselves to despise these, they would soon find of what worthless
stuff the natives were composed. The army then marched cautiously
forwards, in order of battle, along the left bank of the Euphrates.
They soon came upon a huge trench, 30 feet broad and 18 deep, which
Artaxerxes had caused to be dug across the plain for a length of about
42 English miles, reaching from the Euphrates to the wall of Media.
Between it and the river was left only a narrow passage about 20 feet
broad; yet Cyrus and his army found with surprise that this pass was
left entirely undefended. This circumstance inspired them with a
contempt of the enemy, and induced them to proceed in careless array;
but on the next day but one after passing the trench, on arriving at a
place called Cunaxa, they were surprised with the intelligence that
Artaxerxes was approaching with all his forces. Cyrus immediately drew
up his army in order of battle. The Greeks were posted on the right,
whilst Cyrus himself, surrounded by a picked body-guard of 600 Persian
cuirassiers, took up his station in the centre. When the enemy were
about half a mile distant, the Greeks engaged them with the usual
war-shout. The Persians did not await their onset, but turned and
fled. Tissaphernes and his cavalry alone offered any resistance; the
remainder of the Persian left was routed without a blow. As Cyrus was
contemplating the easy victory of the Greeks, his followers surrounded
him, and already saluted him with the title of king. But the centre
and right of Artaxerxes still remained unbroken; and that monarch,
unaware of the defeat of his left wing, ordered the right to wheel and
encompass the army of Cyrus. No sooner did Cyrus perceive this
movement than with his body-guard he impetuously charged the enemy's
centre, where Artaxerxes himself stood, surrounded with 6000 horse.
The latter were routed and dispersed, and were followed so eagerly by
the guards of Cyrus, that he was left almost alone with the select few
called his "Table Companions." In this situation he caught sight of
his brother Artaxerxes, whose person was revealed by the flight of his
troops, when, maddened at once by rage and ambition, he shouted out, "I
see the man!" and rushed at him with his handful of companions.
Hurling his javelin at his brother, he wounded him in the breast, but
was himself speedily overborne by superior numbers and slain on the
spot.
Meanwhile Clearchus had pursued the flying enemy upwards of three
miles; but hearing that the king's troops were victorious on the left
and centre, he retraced his steps, again routing the Persians who
endeavoured to intercept him. When the Greeks regained their camp they
found that it had been completely plundered, and were consequently
obliged to go supperless to rest. It was not till the following day
that they learned the death of Cyrus; tidings which converted their
triumph into sorrow and dismay. They were desirous that Ariaeus who
now commanded the army of Cyrus, should lay claim to the Persian crown,
and offered to support his pretensions; but Ariaeus answered that the
Persian grandees would not tolerate such a claim; that he intended
immediately to retreat; and that, if the Greeks wished to accompany
him, they must join him during the following night. This was
accordingly done; when oaths of reciprocal fidelity were interchanged
between the Grecian generals and Ariaeus, and sanctified by a solemn
sacrifice.
On the following day a message arrived from the Persian King, with a
proposal to treat for peace on equal terms. Clearchus affected to
treat the offer with great indifference, and made it an opportunity for
procuring provisions. "Tell your king," said he to the envoys, "that
we must first fight; for we have had no breakfast, nor will any man
presume to talk to the Greeks about a truce without first providing for
them a breakfast." This was agreed to, and guides were sent to conduct
the Greeks to some villages where they might obtain food. Here they
received a visit from Tissaphernes, who pretended much friendship
towards them, and said that ha had come from the Great King to inquire
the reason of their expedition. Clearchus replied--what was indeed
true of the greater part of the army--that they had not come hither
with any design to attack the king, but had been enticed forwards by
Cyrus under false pretences; that their only desire at present was to
return home; but that, if any obstacle was offered, they were prepared
to repel hostilities. In a day or two Tissaphernes returned and with
some parade stated that he had with great difficulty obtained
permission to SAVE the Greek army; that he was ready to conduct them in
person into Greece; and to supply them with provisions, for which,
however, they were to pay. An agreement was accordingly entered into
to this effect; and after many days delay they commenced the homeward
march. After marching three days they passed through the wall of
Media, which was 100 feet high and 20 feet broad. Two days more
brought them to the Tigris, which they crossed on the following morning
by a bridge of boats. They then marched northward, arriving in four
days at the river Physcus and a large city called Opis. Six days'
further march through a deserted part of Media brought them to some
villages belonging to queen Parysatis, which, out of enmity to her as
the patron of Cyrus, Tissaphernes abandoned to be plundered by the
Greeks. From thence they proceeded in five days to the river Zabatus,
or Greater Zab, having previously crossed the Lesser Zab, which
Xenophon neglects to mention. In the first of these five days they saw
on the opposite side of the Tigris a large city called Caenae, the
inhabitants of which brought over provisions to them. At the Greater
Zab they halted three days. Mistrust, and even slight hostilities, had
been already manifested between the Greeks and Persians, but they now
became so serious that Clearchus demanded an interview with
Tissaphernes. The latter protested the greatest fidelity and
friendship towards the Greeks, and promised to deliver to the Greek
generals, on the following day, the calumniators who had set the two
armies at variance. But when Clearchus, with four other generals,
accompanied by some lochages or captains, and 200 soldiers, entered the
Persian camp, according to appointment; the captains and soldiers were
immediately cut down; whilst the five generals were seized, put into
irons, and sent to the Persian court. After a short imprisonment, four
of them were beheaded; the fifth, Menon, who pretended that he had
betrayed his colleagues into the hands of Tissaphernes, was at first
spared; but after a year's detention was put to death with tortures.
Apprehension and dismay reigned among the Greeks. Their situation was,
indeed, appalling. They were considerably more than a thousand miles
from home, in a hostile and unknown country, hemmed in on all sides by
impassable rivers and mountains, without generals, without guides,
without provisions. Xenophon was the first to rouse the captains to the
necessity for taking immediate precautions. Though young, he possessed
as an Athenian citizen some claim to distinction; and his animated
address showed him fitted for command. He was saluted general on the
spot; and in a subsequent assembly was, with four others, formally
elected to that office.
The Greeks, having first destroyed their superfluous baggage, crossed
the Greater Zab, and pursued their march on the other bank. They
passed by the ruined cities of Larissa and Mespila on the Tigris, in
the neighbourhood of the ancient Nineveh. The march from Mespila to
the mountainous country of the Carduchi occupied several days in which
the Greeks suffered much from the attacks of the enemy.
Their future route was now a matter of serious perplexity. On their
left lay the Tigris, so deep that they could not fathom it with their
spears; while in their front rose the steep and lofty mountains of the
Carduchi, which came so near the river as hardly to leave a passage for
its waters. As all other roads seemed barred, they formed the
resolution of striking into these mountains, on the farther side of
which lay Armenia, where both the Tigris and the Euphrates might be
forded near their sources. After a difficult and dangerous march of
seven days, during which their sufferings were far greater than any
they had experienced from the Persians the army at length emerged into
Armenia. It was now the month of December, and Armenia was cold and
exposed, being a table-land raised high above the level of the sea.
Whilst halting near some well-supplied villages, the Greeks were
overtaken by two deep falls of snow, which almost buried them in their
open bivouacs. Hence a five days' march brought them to the eastern
branch of the Euphrates. Crossing the river, they proceeded on the
other side of it over plains covered with a deep snow, and in the face
of a biting north wind. Here many of the slaves and beasts of burthen,
and even a few of the soldiers, fell victims to the cold. Some had
their feet frost-bitten; some were blinded by the snow; whilst others,
exhausted with cold and hunger, sunk down and died. On the eighth day
they proceeded on their way, ascending the banks of the Phasis, not the
celebrated river of that name, but probably the one usually called
Araxes.
From thence they fought their way through the country of the Taochi and
Chalybes. They next reached the country of the Scythini, in whose
territory they found abundance in a large and populous city called
Gymnias. The chief of this place having engaged to conduct them within
sight of the Euxine, they proceeded for five days under his guidance;
when, after ascending a mountain, the sea suddenly burst on the view of
the vanguard. The men proclaimed their joy by loud shouts of "The sea!
the sea!" The rest of the army hurried to the summit, and gave vent to
their joy and exultation in tears and mutual embraces. A few days'
march through the country of the Macrones and Colchians at length
brought them to the objects for which they had so often pined, and
which many at one time had never hoped to see again--a Grecian city and
the sea. By the inhabitants of Trapezus or Trebizond, on the Euxine,
where they had now arrived, they were hospitably received, and, being
cantoned in some Colchian villages near the town, refreshed themselves
after the hardships they had undergone by a repose of thirty days.
The most difficult part of the return of the Ten Thousand was now
accomplished, and it is unnecessary to trace the remainder of their
route. After many adventures they succeeded in reaching Byzantium, and
they subsequently engaged to serve the Lacedaemonians in a war which
Sparta had just declared against the satraps Tissaphernes and
Pharnabazus.
In the spring of B.C. 399, Thimbron, the Lacedaemonian commander,
arrived at Pergamus, and the remainder of the Ten Thousand Greeks
became incorporated with his army. Xenophon now returned to Athens,
where he must have arrived shortly after the execution of his master
Socrates. Disgusted probably by that event, he rejoined his old
comrades in Asia, and subsequently returned to Greece along with
Agesilaus.