SECTION V.

RETREAT OF THE TEN THOUSAND GREEKS FROM THE PROVINCE

OF BABYLON TO TREBISOND.

THE generals of the Greeks having been seized, and the officers who attended them massacred, the troops were in the highest consternation. They were five or six hundred leagues from Greece, surrounded with great rivers and enemy nations, without any supplies of provisions. In this state of general dejection, they could not think of taking either nourishment or repose. In the middle of the night, Xenophon, a young Athenian, but of prudence and capacity superior to his years, went to some of the officers, and represented to them, that they had no time to lose; that it was of the last importance to prevent the bad designs of the enemy; that, however small their number, they would render themselves formidable, if they behaved with boldness and resolution; that valor and not multitude determines the success of arms; and that it was neces sary above all things to nominate generals immediately; because an army without commanders is like a body without a soul. A council was immediately held, at which one hundred officers were present, and Xenophon being desired to speak, deduced the reasons at large he had at first but lightly touched upon; and by his advice commanders were appointed. They were, Timasion for Clearchus, Zanthicles for Socrates, Cleanor for Agias, Philesius for Menon, and Xenophon for Proxenes.

VOL. 3.

Xenoph. in Exped. Cyr. 1. iii. et iv.

71

Before the break of day they assembled the army. The generals made speeches to animate the troops, and Xenophon amongst the rest. "Fellow soldiers," said he," the loss of so many brave men by vile treachery, and the being abandoned by our friends, is very deplorable; but we must not sink under our misfortunes; and if we cannot conquer, let us choose rather to perish gloriously, than to fall into the hands of barbarians, who would inflict upon us the greatest miseries. Let us call to mind the glorious battles of Platea, Thermopyle, Salamin, and the many others wherein our ancestors, though with a small number, have fought and defeated the innumerable armies of the Persians, and thereby rendered the name alone of Greek for ever formidable. It is to their invincible valor we owe the honour we possess, of acknowledging no masters upon earth but the gods, nor any happiness but what consists with liberty. Those gods, the avengers of perjury, and witnesses of the enemy's treason, will be favourable to us; and as they are attacked in the violation of treaties, and take pleasure in humbling the proud, and exalting the low, they will also follow us to battle, and combat for us. For the rest, fellow soldiers, as we have no refuge but in victory, which must be our hope, and will make us ample amends for whatever it costs to attain it; I should believe, if it were your opinion, that for the making a more ready and less difficult retreat, it would be very proper to rid ourselves of all the use. less baggage, and to keep only what is absolutely necessary in our march." All the soldiers that moment lifted up their hands to signify their approbation and consent to all that had been said, and without loss

of time set fire to their tents and carriages; such of them as had too much equipage giving it to others who had too little, and destroying the rest.

It was resolved to march the army without tumult or violence, if their return was not opposed; but otherwise to open themselves a passage sword in hand through the enemy. They began their march in the form of a great hollow square, with the baggage in the centre, Chirisophus, the Lacedemonian, had the van guard; two of the oldest captains the right and left; and Timasion with Xenophon were posted in the rear, as the youngest officers. The first day was rude; because, having neither horse nor slingers, they were extremely harrassed by a detachment sent against them: but they provided against that inconvenience by following Xenophon's advice. They chose two hundred men out of the Rhodians in the army, whom they armed with slings, and augmented their pay for their encouragement. They could throw as far again as the Persians, because they discharged balls of lead, and the others made use of large flints. They mounted also a squadron of fifty men upon the horses intended for the baggage, and supplied their places with other beasts of burden. By the means of this supply a second detachment of the enemy were very severely handled.

After some days march, Tissaphernes appeared with all his forces. He contented himself with harrassing the Greeks, who moved on continually. The latter observing the difficulty of retreating in an hollow square in the face of the enemy, from the unevenness of ground, hedges, and other obstacles, which might

oblige them to break it, changed their order of battle, and marched in two columns, with the little baggage they had in the space between them. They formed a body of reserve of six hundred chosen men, whom they divid ed into six companies, and subdivided by fifties and tens, to facilitate their motions according to occasion. When the columns came close to each other, they either remained in the rear, or filed off upon the flanks on both sides, to avoid disorder; and when they opened, they fell into the void space in the rear between the two columns. Upon any occasion of attack, they immediately ran where it was necessary. The Greeks stood several charges, but they were neither considerable, nor attended with much loss.

They arrived at the river Tygris. As its depth would not admit them to repass it without boats, they were obliged to cross the Carducian mountains; because there was no other way, and the prisoners reported, that from thence they would enter Armenia, where they might pass the Tygris at its source, and afterwards the Euphrates, not very distant from it. To gain those defiles before the enemy could seize them, it was thought proper to set forwards in the night, in order to arrive at the foot of the mountains by the break of day; which was done accordingly. Chirisophus continued at the head of the advanced guard, with the troops armed with missive weapons, besides his ordinary corps; and Xenophon in the rear, with only the heavy armed soldiers, because at that time there was nothing to fear on that side. The inhabitants of the country had taken possession of several of the heights, from whence it was necessary to drive them,

which could not be done without great danger and difficulty.

The officers having held a council of war, were of opinion, that it was proper to leave behind them all the beasts of burden not absolutely necessary, with all the slaves lately taken; because both the one and the other would retard their march too much in the great defiles they had to pass; besides which, it required a greater quantity of provisions to support them, and those who had the care of the beasts were useless in fight. That regulation was executed without delay; and they continued their march, sometimes fighting, and sometimes halting. The passing of the mountains, which took up seven days, fatigued the troops exceedingly, and occasioned some loss; but at length they arrived at villages, where they found provisions in abundance, and rested some days, to recover the severe fatigues the army had suffered; in comparison with which all they had undergone in Persia was trivial.

They found themselves soon after exposed to new danger. Almost at the foot of the mountains they came to a river, two hundred feet in breadth, called Centrites, which stopped their march. They had to defend themselves against the enemy, who pursued them in the rear, and the Armenians, the soldiers of the country, who defended the opposite side of the river. They attempted in vain to pass it in a place where the water came up to their armpits, and were carried away by the rapidity of the current, against which, the weight of their arms made them unable to resist. By good fortune they discovered another place not so deep, where some soldiers had seen the people of