Anabasis
until we have dislodged these fellows; why have you not brought up the
light infantry?" Xenophon explained: he had not thought it desirable
to leave the rear unprotected, with an enemy appearing in the field of
view. "However, it is time," he added, "to decide how we are to
dislodge these fellows from the crest." At this moment his eye fell on
the peak of the mountain, rising immediately above their army, and he
could see an approach leading from it to the crest in question where
the enemy lay. He exclaimed: "The best thing we can do, Cheirisophus,
is to make a dash at the height itself, and with what speed we may. If
we take it, the party in command of the road will never be able to
stop. If you like, stay in command of the army, and I will go; or, if
you prefer, do you go to the mountain, and I will stay here."--"I
leave it to you," Cheirisophus answered, "to choose which you like
best." Xenophon remarking, "I am the younger," elected to go; but he
stipulated for a detachment from the front to accompany him, since it
was a long way to fetch up troops from the rear. Accordingly
Cheirisophus furnished him with the light infantry from the front,
reoccupying their place by those from the centre. He also gave him, to
form part of the detachment, the three hundred of the picked corps (10)
under his own command at the head of the square.
(10) Some think that these three hundred are three of the detached
companies described above; others, that they were a picked corps
in attendance on the commander-in-chief.
They set out from the low ground with all the haste imaginable. But
the enemy in position on the crest no sooner perceived their advance
upon the summit of the pass than they themselves set off full tilt in
a rival race for the summit too. Hoarse were the shouts of the
Hellenic troops as the men cheered their companions forwards, and
hoarse the answering shouts from the troops of Tissaphernes, urging on
theirs. Xenophon, mounted on his charger, rode beside his men, and
roused their ardour the while. "Now for it, brave sirs; bethink you
that this race is for Hellas!--now or never!--to find your boys, your
wives; one small effort, and the rest of the march we shall pursue in
peace, without ever a blow to strike; now for it." But Soteridas the
Sicyonian said: "We are not on equal terms, Xenophon; you are mounted 47
on a horse; I can hardly get along with my shield to carry;" and he,
on hearing the reproach, leapt from his horse. In another instant he
had pushed Soteridas from the ranks, snatched from him his shield, and
begun marching as quickly as he might under the circumstances, having
his horseman's cuirass to carry as well, so that he was sore pressed;
but he continued to cheer on the troops: exhorting those in front to
lead on and the men toiling behind to follow up (11). Soteridas was not
spared by the rest of the men. They gave him blows, they pelted him,
they showered him with abuse, till they compelled him to take back his
shield and march on; and the other, remounting, led them on horseback
as long as the footing held; but when the ground became too steep, he
left his horse and pressed forward on foot, and so they found
themselves on the summit before the enemy.
(11) Some MSS. "and the men behind to pass him by, as he could but ill
keep up the pace."
V
There and then the barbarians turned and fled as best they might, and 1
the Hellenes held the summit, while the troops with Tissaphernes and
Ariaeus turned aside and disappeared by another road. The main body
with Cheirisophus made its way down into the plain and encamped in a
village filled with good things of divers sorts. Nor did this village
stand alone; there were others not a few in this plain of the Tigris
equally overflowing with plenty. It was now afternoon; and all of a
sudden the enemy came in sight on the plain, and succeeded in cutting
down some of the Hellenes belonging to parties who were scattered over
the flat land in quest of spoil. Indeed, many herds of cattle had been
caught whilst being conveyed across to the other side of the river.
And now Tissaphernes and his troops made an attempt to burn the
villages, and some of the Hellenes were disposed to take the matter
deeply to heart, being apprehensive that they might not know where to
get provisions if the enemy burnt the villages.
Cheirisophus and his men were returning from their sally of defence
when Xenophon and his party descended, and the latter rode along the 4
ranks as the rescuing party came up, and greeted them thus: "Do you
not see, men of Hellas, they admit that the country is now ours; what
they stipulated against our doing when they made the treaty, viz. that
we were not to fire the king's country, they are now themselves
doing--setting fire to it as if it were not their own. But we will be
even with them; if they leave provisions for themselves anywhere,
there also shall they see us marching;" and, turning to Cheirisophus,
he added: "But it strikes me, we should sally forth against these
incendiaries and protect our country." Cheirisophus retorted: "That is
not quite my view; I say, let us do a little burning ourselves, and
they will cease all the quicker."
When they had got back to the villages, while the rest were busy about
provisions, the generals and officers met: and here there was deep
despondency. For on the one side were exceedingly high mountains; on
the other a river of such depth that they failed to reach the bottom
with their spears. In the midst of their perplexities, a Rhodian came
up with a proposal, as follows: "I am ready, sirs to carry you across,
four thousand heavy infantry at a time; if you will furnish me with
what I need and give me a talent into the bargain for my pains." When
asked, "What shall you need?" he replied: "Two thousand wine-skins. I
see there are plenty of sheep and goats and asses. They have only to
be flayed, and their skins inflated, and they will readily give us a
passage. I shall want also the straps which you use for the baggage
animals. With these I shall couple the skins to one another; then I
shall moor each skin by attaching stones and letting them down like
anchors into the water. Then I shall carry them across, and when I
have fastened the links at both ends, I shall place layers of wood on
them and a coating of earth on the top of that. You will see in a
minute that there's no danger of your drowning, for every skin will be
able to support a couple of men without sinking, and the wood and
earth will prevent your slipping off."
The generals thought it a pretty invention enough, but its realisation
impracticable, for on the other side were masses of cavalry posted and
ready to bar the passage; who, to begin with, would not suffer the 12
first detachment of crossers to carry out any item of the programme.
Under these circumstances, the next day they turned right about face,
and began retracing their steps in the direction of Babylon to the
unburnt villages, having previously set fire to those they left, so
that the enemy did not ride up to them, but stood and stared, all
agape to see in what direction the Hellenes would betake themselves
and what they were minded to do. Here, again, while the rest of the
soldiers were busy about provisions, the generals and officers met in
council, and after collecting the prisoners together, submitted them
to a cross-examination touching the whole country round, the names,
and so forth, of each district.
The prisoners informed them that the regions south, through which they
had come, belonged to the district towards Babylon and Media; the road
east led to Susa and Ecbatana, where the king is said to spend summer
and spring; crossing the river, the road west led to Lydia and Ionia;
and the part through the mountains facing towards the Great Bear, led,
they said, to the Carduchians (1). They were a people, so said the
prisoners, dwelling up on the hills, addicted to war, and not subject
to the king; so much so that once, when a royal army one hundred and
twenty thousand strong had invaded them, not a man came back, owing to
the intricacies of the country. Occasionally, however, they made truce
or treaty with the satrap in the plain, and, for the nonce, there
would be intercourse: "they will come in and out amongst us," "and we
will go in and out amongst them," said the captives.
(1) See Dr. Kiepert, "Man. Anc. Geog." (Mr. G. A. Macmillan) iv. 47.
The Karduchians or Kurds belong by speech to the Iranian stock,
forming in fact their farthest outpost to the west, little given
to agriculture, but chiefly to the breeding of cattle. Their name,
pronounced Kardu by the ancient Syrians and Assyrians, Kordu by
the Armenians (plural Kordukh), first appears in its narrower
sense in western literature in the pages of the eye-witness
Xenophon as {Kardoukhoi}. Later writers knew of a small kingdom
here at the time of the Roman occupation, ruled by native princes,
who after Tigranes II (about 80 B.C.) recognised the overlordship
of the Armenian king. Later it became a province of the Sassanid
kingdom, and as such was in 297 A.D. handed over among the
regiones transtigritanae to the Roman empire, but in 364 was again
ceded to Persia.
After hearing these statements, the generals seated apart those who 17
claimed to have any special knowledge of the country in any direction;
they put them to sit apart without making it clear which particular
route they intended to take. Finally the resolution to which they came
was that they must force a passage through the hills into the
territory of the Kurds; since, according to what their informants told
them, when they had once passed these, they would find themselves in
Armenia--the rich and large territory governed by Orontas; and from
Armenia, it would be easy to proceed in any direction whatever.
Thereupon they offered sacrifice, so as to be ready to start on the
march as soon as the right moment appeared to have arrived. Their
chief fear was that the high pass over the mountains must be occupied
in advance: and a general order was issued, that after supper every
one should get his kit together for starting, and repose, in readiness
to follow as soon as the word of command was given.
BOOK IV
(In the preceding portion of the narrative a full account is
given of the incidents of the march up to the battle, and of
the occurrences after the battle during the truce which was
established between the king and the Hellenes, who marched up
with Cyrus, and thirdly, of the fighting to which the Hellenes
were exposed, after the king and Tissaphernes had broken the
treaty, while a Persian army hung on their rear. Having
finally reached a point at which the Tigris was absolutely
impassable owing to its depth and breadth, while there was no
passage along the bank itself, and the Carduchian hills hung
sheer over the river, the generals took the resolution above
mentioned of forcing a passage through the mountains. The
information derived from the prisoners taken along the way led
them to believe that once across the Carduchian mountains they
would have the choice either of crossing the Tigris--if they
liked to do so--at its sources in Armenia, or of going round
them, if so they preferred. Report further said that the
sources of the Euphrates also were not far from those of the
Tigris, and this is actually the case. The advance into the
country of the Carduchians was conducted with a view partly to
secrecy, and partly to speed, so as to effect their entry
before the enemy could occupy the passes.)
I
It was now about the last watch, and enough of the night remained to 1