The First Four Books of Xenophon's Anabasis

Parentage of Cyrus the Younger. After the death of his father he is accused of plotting against his brother Artaxerxes, who imprisons him, but releases him on the intercession o...

Cyrus begins his march, proceeding from Sardis through Lydia into Phrygia, where he is joined by new forces. The city of Celænæ; the plain of Caystrus, where the soldiers demand...

Cyrus is forced to stay twenty days at Tarsus by a mutiny of the Greek soldiers, who, suspecting that they were led against the king, refuse to go farther, and offer violence to...

The army reaches Issi, the last city in Cilicia, at which the fleet then arrives. Cyrus proceeds into Syria, where two of the Greek captains, Xenias and Pasion, desert the exped...

The army proceeds through Arabia, having the Euphrates on the right. They suffer from want of provisions, and many of the beasts of burden perish; but supplies are procured from...

Traces of the king's troops are perceived. Orontes, a Persian nobleman, a relation of Cyrus, offers to go forward with a body of cavalry, and lay an ambush for the king's army....

Cyrus enters Babylonia, and reviews his troops; he addresses the Greeks, and promises them great rewards in case of victory. He advances in order of battle, but afterwards, supp...

The enemy are seen advancing in order of battle, and the army of Cyrus hastily prepare for action. The Greeks, in the right wing, put to flight the troops opposed to them, and p...

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 person...

The head and right-hand of Cyrus cut off. Artaxerxes pursues Ariæus, plunders the camp of Cyrus, and then returns to attack the victorious Greeks, who put him to flight, recover...

The Greeks are surprised to hear of the death of Cyrus. Ariæus resolves to return to Ionia, contrary to the advice of Clearchus, who incites him to make an attempt on the throne...

The Greeks, joining Ariæus, form an alliance with him, and take counsel with him in reference to their return. During the night following the first day's march they are seized w...

The king proposes a truce, and supplies the Greeks with provisions during the negotiation. Three days after he sends Tissaphernes to them, to ask why they had engaged in hostili...

The Greeks conceive distrust both of Tissaphernes and Ariæus, and resolve to march apart from the Persians. They commence their march under the guidance of Tissaphernes, pass th...

After a three days' halt on the river Zabatus, Clearchus endeavours to put an end to the distrust between the Persians and the Greeks by an interview with Tissaphernes. He is re...

One of them, Clearchus, by the general consent of all who were acquainted with him, appears to have been a man well qualified for war, and extremely fond of military enterprise....

Dejection of the Greeks. How Xenophon was led to join in Cyrus's expedition. His dream, and reflections. He rouses the captains of the division that Proxenus had commanded, and...

1. When the officers were chosen, and day was just dawning, they met in the centre of the camp, and it was resolved to station sentinels at the out-posts, and to call together t...

The Greeks are visited by Mithridates as a friend, but he soon shows that he is an enemy, and they resolve to enter into no further negotiations with the Persian king. They pass...

Mithridates again pursues the Greeks, but is repulsed. They reach the Tigris, encamp at Mespila, and are attacked by Tissaphernes with a numerous force. They repel him, and alte...

The Greeks arrive at a point where the Carduchian mountains overhang the river, and, as they are still harassed by the enemy, the generals hold a consultation, and determine to...

The Greeks enter the territory of the Carduchi, where they suffer greatly from the wind and cold, as well as from the Barbarians, who harass them with frequent attacks on their...

1. It was now afternoon, and the generals[181] desired the party to take some refreshment and set forward. Having bound the guide, they put him into their hands, and arranged wi...

not appear that anything is gained, as πρὸς τὸ κάτω του τόξου precedes. Spelman, who was himself an archer, has illustrated the passage very clearly by a quotation from Arrian,...

The Greeks arrive at the river Centrites, which divides the Carduchi from Armenia. They see the Persians drawn up on the opposite bank, while the Carduchi threaten their rear. T...

The Greeks enter Armenia, pass the sources of the Tigris, and arrive at the Teleboas. They make a treaty with Tiribazus, the governor of the province, and discover his insincerity.

The Greeks march through an uninhabited tract of country, suffering greatly from cold winds, snow, and want of provisions. At length they reach some well-stored villages, where...

The Greeks leave the villages under conduct of a guide, who, on being struck by Cheirisophus, deserts them. After wandering through the country for seven days, they arrive at th...

The Greeks, entering the country of the Taochi, storm a fort, capturing a great number of cattle, on which they subsist while traversing the region of the Chalybes. They cross t...

The Greeks proceed unmolested through the country of the Macrones, and enter Colchis. Putting to flight the Colchians who obstructed their passage, they arrive at Trebisond, a G...