The First Four Books of Xenophon's Anabasis Part 4

[Footnote 65: ?? ?e?? ---- ?a? t? sf???a ?a??.] The ?e?? are omens from the entrails of the victims; the sf???a were omens taken from the appearances and motions of the animals when led to sacrifice. This is the explanation given by Sturz in the Lexicon Xenophonteum, and adopted by Kuhner. Compare ii, 1. 9.]

[Footnote 66: Dindorf has ? d? ???a???? e?pe?, which is the reading of some ma.n.u.scripts; others have ?e??f?? instead of ???a????. Dindorf prefers the former, a.s.suming that Clearchus had probably ridden up to Cyrus on that occasion; but this is an a.s.sumption which he had no right to make, as nothing can be gathered from the text in favour of it.

Bornemann and Kuhner think it better to consider both names as equally interpolations, and to read simply ? d? e?pe?, Xenophon of course being understood.]

[Footnote 67: ?e?te???.] The watchword seems to have been pa.s.sed from the extremity of one wing (the right I should suppose) to the extremity of the other, and then back again, that the soldiers, by repeating it twice, might be less likely to forget it. But as it would thus be pa.s.sed only twice, not oftener, it would appear that we should read t?

de?te???. _Kruger_ de Authen. Anab. p. 33. Kuhner observes that the article is not absolutely necessary. I have translated "_the_ second time," as the sense seems to require. Some have imagined that the word de?te??? implies that _a second watchword_, another given out for the occasion, was pa.s.sing round; but for this supposition there seems no ground. As there is no answer to the inquiry, t?? pa?a?????e?, Kruger thinks that some words have dropped out of the text.]

[Footnote 68: ??e??a??e.] This metaphor, from the swelling and heaving of a wave, is imitated by Arrian, Anab. ii. 10. 4, and praised in the treatise de Eloc. 84, attributed to Demetrius Phalereus.]

[Footnote 69: ?????ta?.] Schneider, Kuhner, and some other editors have ?????t? but Poppo and Dindorf seem to be right in adopting the present, notwithstanding the following optative.]

[Footnote 70: See c. 6, sect. 11.]

CHAPTER IX.

The character of Cyrus. All his personal friends are killed, except Ariaeus, who takes to flight.

1. Thus then died Cyrus; a man who, of all the Persians since Cyrus the elder, was the most princely and most worthy of empire, as is agreed by all who appear to have had personal knowledge of him. 2. In the first place, while he was yet a boy, and when he was receiving his education with his brother and the other youths, he was thought to surpa.s.s them all in everything. 3. For all the sons of the Persian n.o.bles are educated at the gates of the king;[71] where they may learn many a lesson of virtuous conduct, but can see or hear nothing disgraceful. 4.

Here the boys see some honoured by the king, and others disgraced, and hear of them; so that in their very childhood they learn to govern and to obey.

5. Here Cyrus, first of all, showed himself most remarkable for modesty among those of his own age, and for paying more ready obedience to his elders than even those who were inferior to him in station; and next, he was noted for his fondness for horses, and for managing them in a superior manner. They found him, too, very desirous of learning, and most a.s.siduous in practising, the warlike exercises of archery, and hurling the javelin. 6. When it suited his age, he grew extremely fond of the chase, and of braving dangers in encounters with wild beasts. On one occasion, he did not shrink from a she-bear that attacked him, but, in grappling with her, was dragged from off his horse, and received some wounds, the scars of which were visible on his body, but at last killed her. The person who first came to his a.s.sistance, he made a happy man in the eyes of many.

7. When he was sent down by his father, as satrap of Lydia and Great Phrygia and Cappadocia, and was also appointed commander of all the troops whose duty it is to muster in the plain of Castolus, he soon showed that if he made a league or compact with any one, or gave a promise, he deemed it of the utmost importance not to break his word. 8.

Accordingly the states that were committed to his charge, as well as individuals, had the greatest confidence in him; and if any one had been his enemy, he felt secure that if Cyrus entered into a treaty with him, he should suffer no infraction of the stipulations. 9. When, therefore, he waged war against Tissaphernes, all the cities, of their own accord, chose to adhere to Cyrus in preference to Tissaphernes, except the Milesians; but they feared him, because he would not abandon the cause of the exiles; 10. for he both showed by his deeds, and declared in words, that he would never desert them, since he had once become a friend to them, not even though they should grow still fewer in number, and be in a worse condition than they were.

11. Whenever any one did him a kindness or an injury, he showed himself anxious to go beyond him in those respects; and some used to mention a wish of his, that "he desired to live long enough to outdo both those who had done him good, and those who had done him ill, in the requital that he should make." 12. Accordingly to him alone of the men of our days were so great a number of people desirous of committing the disposal of their property, their cities, and their own persons.

13. Yet no one could with truth say this of him, that he suffered the criminal or unjust to deride his authority; for he of all men inflicted punishment most unsparingly; and there were often to be seen, along the most frequented roads, men deprived of their feet, or hands, or eyes; so that in Cyrus's dominions, it was possible for any one, Greek or Barbarian, who did no wrong, to travel without fear whithersoever he pleased, and having with him whatever might suit his convenience.

14. To those who showed ability for war, it is acknowledged that he paid distinguished honour. His first war was with the Pisidians and Mysians; and, marching in person into these countries, he made those, whom he saw voluntarily hazarding their lives in his service, governors over the territory that he subdued, and distinguished them with rewards in other ways. 15. So that the brave appeared to be the most fortunate of men, while the cowardly were deemed fit[72] only to be their slaves. There were, therefore, great numbers of persons who voluntarily exposed themselves to danger, wherever they thought that Cyrus would become aware of their exertions.

16. With regard to justice, if any appeared to him inclined to display that virtue, he made a point of making such men richer than those who sought to profit by injustice. 17. Accordingly, while in many other respects his affairs were administered judiciously, he likewise possessed an army worthy of the name. For it was not for money that generals and captains came from foreign lands to enter into his service, but because they were persuaded that to serve Cyrus well, would be more profitable than any amount of monthly pay. 18. Besides, if any one executed his orders in a superior manner, he never suffered his diligence to go unrewarded; consequently, in every undertaking, the best qualified officers were said to be ready to a.s.sist him.

19. If he noticed any one that was a skilful manager, with strict regard to justice, stocking the land of which he had the direction, and securing income from it, he would never take anything from such a person, but was ever ready to give him something in addition; so that men laboured with cheerfulness, acquired property with confidence, and made no concealment from Cyrus of what each possessed; for he did not appear to envy those who ama.s.sed riches openly, but to endeavour to bring into use the wealth of those who concealed it.

20. Whatever friends he made, and felt to be well-disposed to him, and considered to be capable of a.s.sisting him in anything that he might wish to accomplish, he is acknowledged by all to have been most successful in attaching them to him. 21. For, on the very same account on which he thought that he himself had need of friends, namely, that he might have co-operators in his undertakings, did he endeavour to prove an efficient a.s.sistant to his friends in whatever he perceived any of them desirous of effecting.

22. He received, for many reasons, more presents than perhaps any other single individual; and these he outdid every one else in distributing amongst his friends, having a view to the character of each, and to what he perceived each most needed. 23. Whatever presents any one sent him of articles of personal ornament, whether for warlike accoutrement, or merely for dress, concerning these, they said, he used to remark, that he could not decorate his own person with them all, but that he thought friends well equipped were the greatest ornament a man could have. 24.

That he should outdo his friends, indeed, in conferring great benefits, is not at all wonderful, since he was so much more able; but, that he should surpa.s.s his friends in kind attentions, and an anxious desire to oblige, appears to me far more worthy of admiration. 25. Frequently, when he had wine served him of a peculiarly fine flavour, he would send half-emptied flagons of it to some of his friends, with a message to this effect: "Cyrus has not for some time met with pleasanter wine than this; and he has therefore sent some of it to you, and begs you will drink it to-day, with those whom you love best." 26. He would often, too, send geese partly eaten, and the halves of loaves, and other such things, desiring the bearer to say, in presenting them, "Cyrus has been delighted with these, and therefore wishes you also to taste of them."

27. Wherever provender was scarce, but he himself, from having many attendants, and from the care which he took, was able to procure some, he would send it about, and desire his friends to give that provender to the horses that carried them, so that hungry steeds might not carry his friends. 28. Whenever he rode out, and many were likely to see him, he would call to him his friends, and hold earnest conversation with them, that he might show whom he held in honour; so that, from what I have heard, I should think that no one was ever beloved by a greater number of persons, either Greeks or Barbarians. 29. Of this fact the following is a proof; that no one deserted to the king from Cyrus, though only a subject, (except that Orontes attempted to do so; but he soon found the person whom he believed faithful to him, more a friend to Cyrus than to himself,) while many came over to Cyrus from the king, after they became enemies to each other; and these, too, men who were greatly beloved by the king; for they felt persuaded, that if they proved themselves brave soldiers under Cyrus, they would obtain from him more adequate rewards for their services than from the king.

30. What occurred also at the time of his death, is a great proof, as well that he himself was a man of merit, as that he could accurately distinguish such as were trust-worthy, well disposed, and constant in their attachment. 31. For when he was killed, all his friends, and the partakers of his table who were with him, fell fighting in his defence, except Ariaeus, who had been posted, in command of the cavalry, on the left; and, when he learned that Cyrus had fallen in the battle, he took to flight, with all the troops which he had under his command.

[Footnote 71: ?p? ta?? as????? ???a??.] For "at the king's palace."

"The king's palace was styled among the ancient Persians, as in the modern Constantinople, _the Porte_. Agreeably to the customs of other despots of the East, the kings of Persia resided in the interior of their palaces; seldom appearing in public, and guarding all means of access to their persons. The number of courtiers, masters of ceremonies, guards, and others was endless. It was through them alone that access could be obtained to the monarch." _Heeren, Researches, &c._ vol. i. p 403. See Cyrop. i. 3. 2; 2. 3, _seqq._ Corn. Nep. Life of Conon, c. 3.]

[Footnote 72: ?????s?a?.] Lion, Poppo, Kuhner, and some other editors, read ??????, but the pa.s.sive suits better with the preceding fa??es?a?.]

CHAPTER X.

The head and right-hand of Cyrus cut off. Artaxerxes pursues Ariaeus, plunders the camp of Cyrus, and then returns to attack the victorious Greeks, who put him to flight, recover what he had seized, and return to their camp.

1. The head and right-hand of Cyrus were then cut off. The king, and the troops that were with him, engaging in pursuit, fell upon the camp of Cyrus; when the soldiers of Ariaeus no longer stood their ground, but fled through their camp to the station whence they had last started; which was said to be four parasangs distant. 2. The king and his followers seized upon many other things, and also captured the Phocaean woman, the mistress of Cyrus, who was said to be both accomplished and beautiful. 3. His younger mistress, a native of Miletus, being taken by some of the king's soldiers, fled for refuge, without her outer garment, to the party of Greeks,[73] who were stationed under arms to guard the baggage, and who, drawing themselves up for defence, killed several of the pillagers; and some of their own number also fell; yet they did not flee, but saved not only the woman, but all the rest of the property and people that were in their quarters.

4. The king and the main body of Greeks were now distant from each other about thirty stadia, the Greeks pursuing those that had been opposed to them, as if they had conquered all; the Persians engaged in plundering, as if they were wholly victorious. 5. But when the Greeks found that the king with his troops was amongst their baggage; and the king, on the other hand, heard from Tissaphernes, that the Greeks had routed that part of his line which had been opposed to them, and were gone forward in pursuit, the king, on his part, collected his forces, and formed them in line again; while Clearchus, on the other side, calling to him Proxenus, who happened to be nearest to him, consulted with him whether they should send a detachment to the camp, or proceed, all of them together, to relieve it. 6. In the mean time, the king was observed again approaching them, as it seemed, in their rear. The Greeks, wheeling round, prepared to receive him, in the belief that he would attack them on that quarter; the king, however, did not lead his troops that way, but led them off by the same route by which he had before pa.s.sed on the outside of their left wing; taking with him both those who had deserted to the Greeks during the engagement, and Tissaphernes with the troops under his command.

7. Tissaphernes had not fled at the commencement of the engagement, but had charged through the Greek peltasts, close to the banks of the river.

In breaking through, however, he killed not a single man, for the Greeks, opening their ranks, struck his men with their swords, and hurled their javelins at them. Episthenes of Amphipolis had the command of the peltasts, and was said to have proved himself an able captain. 8.

Tissaphernes, therefore, when he thus came off with disadvantage, did not turn back again, but, proceeding onwards to the Grecian camp, met the king there; and thence they now returned together, with their forces united in battle-array. 9. When they were opposite the left wing of the Greeks, the Greeks feared lest they should attack them on that wing, and, enclosing them on both sides, should cut them off; they therefore thought it advisable to draw back this wing,[74] and to put the river in their rear. 10. While they were planning this manuvre, the king, having pa.s.sed beyond them, presented his force opposite to them, in the same form in which he had at first come to battle; and when the Greeks saw their enemies close at hand, and drawn up for fight, they again sang the paean, and advanced upon them with much greater spirit than before.

11. The Barbarians, on the other hand, did not await their onset, but fled sooner[75] than at first; and the Greeks pursued them as far as a certain village,[76] where they halted; 12. for above the village was a hill, upon which the king's troops had checked their flight, and though there were no longer any infantry[77] there, the height was filled with cavalry; so that the Greeks could not tell what was doing. They said, that they saw the royal standard, a golden eagle upon a spear,[78] with expanded wings.[79]

13. But as the Greeks were on the point of proceeding thither, the cavalry too left the hill; not indeed in a body, but some in one direction and some in another; and thus the hill was gradually thinned of cavalry, till at last they were all gone. 14. Clearchus, however, did not march up the hill, but, stationing his force at its foot, sent Lycius the Syracusan and another up the hill, and ordered them, after taking a view from the summit, to report to him what was pa.s.sing on the other side. 15. Lycius accordingly rode thither, and having made his observations, brought word that the enemy were fleeing with precipitation. Just as these things took place, the sun set.

16. Here the Greeks halted, and piling their arms, took some rest; and at the same time they wondered that Cyrus himself nowhere made his appearance, and that no one else came to them from him; for they did not know that he was killed, but conjectured that he was either gone in pursuit of the enemy, or had pushed forward to secure some post. 17.

They then deliberated whether they should remain in that spot and fetch their baggage thither, or return to the camp; and it was resolved to return, and they arrived at the tents about supper-time. 18. Such was the conclusion of this day.

They found almost all their baggage, and whatever food and drink was with it, plundered and wasted; the waggons, too, full of barley-meal and wine, which Cyrus had provided, in order that, if ever a great scarcity of provisions should fall upon the army, he might distribute them amongst the Grecian troops, (and the waggons, as was said, were four hundred in number,) these also the king's soldiers had plundered. 19.

Most of the Greeks consequently remained supperless; and they had also been without dinner; for before the army had halted for dinner, the king made his appearance. In this state they pa.s.sed the ensuing night.

[Footnote 73: ???? t?? ???????.] "These words," says Kuhner, "have wonderfully exercised the abilities of commentators." The simplest mode of interpretation, he then observes, is to take p??? in the sense of versus, "towards," comparing iv. 3. 26; ii. 2. 4; but he inclines, on the whole, to make the genitive ??????? depend on t??t??? understood: ??fe??e? t?? ??????? p??? (t??t???) ?? ?t????, ?. t. ?., though he acknowledges that this construction is extremely forced, and that he can nowhere find anything similar to it. Brodaeus suggested p??? t? t??

???????, scil. st?at?ped??, and Weiske and Schneider would read p??? t?

t?? ??????? st?at?ped??. Other conjectures it is unnecessary to notice.]

[Footnote 74: ??apt?sse??.] Literally "to fold back." Whether we are to understand that one part of the wing was drawn behind the other, is not very clear. The commentators are not all agreed as to the exact sense that the word ought to bear. Some would interpret it by _explicare_, "to open out," or "extend," and this indeed seems more applicable to pe??pt??a?te? which precedes; for the Greeks might lengthen out their line that the king's troops might not surround them. But on the whole, the other interpretation seems to have most voices in favour of it.]

[Footnote 75: ?? p??????.] Sc. d?ast?at??: they began to flee when the Greeks were at a still greater distance than before.]

[Footnote 76: ????? ???? t????.] This is generally supposed to have been Cunaxa, where, according to Plutarch, the battle was fought.

Ainsworth, p. 244, identifies Cunaxa with _Imsey'ab_, a place 36 miles north of Babylon.]

[Footnote 77: The infantry seem to have fled; the cavalry only were left.]

[Footnote 78: ?p? p??t?? ?p? ?????.] So stands the pa.s.sage in Dindorf's text; but most editors, from Schneider downwards, consider ?p? ????? to be a mere interpretation of ?p? p??t??, that has crept by some accident into the text, and either enclose it in brackets or wholly omit it.

???t? is said by Hesychius and Suidas to be the same as d??? or ?????: and Kruger refers to Philostratus, Icon. ii. 82, ?p? t?? p??t?? ?et??.

In Cyrop. vii. 1, 4, the insigne of Cyrus the elder is said to have been a golden eagle, ?p? d??at?? a???? ??ateta????. ???t? accordingly being taken in this sense, all is clear, and ?p? ????? is superfluous. Kuhner gives great praise to the conjecture of Hutchinson, ?p? p??t?? ?p?

??st??, who, taking p??t? in the sense of _a shield_, supposed that the eagle was mounted on a shield, and the shield on a spear. But the shield would surely have been a mere enc.u.mbrance, and we had better be rid of it. Yet to take p??t? in the sense of _a spear_, unusual in Xenophon, is not altogether satisfactory; and it would be well if we could fairly admit into the text Leunclavius's conjecture, ?p? pa?t??.]

[Footnote 79: ??ateta????.] This word is generally understood to signify that the eagle's wings were expanded. See Liddell and Scott's Lexicon; and Dr. Smith's Dict. of G. and R. Ant. sub _Signa Militaria_.]