Anabasis
presenting a long extended line owing to the narrowness of the road by
which they made their way. To obviate this, he left some officers in
charge of the ridge--Cephisodorus, son of Cephisophon, an Athenian;
Amphicrates, the son of Amphidemus, an Athenian; and Archagoras, an
Argive exile--while he in person with the rest of the men attacked the
second ridge; this they took in the same fashion, only to find that
they had still a third knoll left, far the steepest of the three. This
was none other than the mamelon mentioned as above the outpost, which
had been captured over their fire by the volunteer storming party in
the night. But when the Hellenes were close, the natives, to the
astonishment of all, without a struggle deserted the knoll. It was
conjectured that they had left their position from fear of being
encircled and besieged, but the fact was that they, from their higher
ground, had been able to see what was going on in the rear, and had
all made off in this fashion to attack the rearguard.
So then Xenophon, with the youngest men, scaled up to the top, leaving
orders to the rest to march on slowly, so as to allow the hindmost
companies to unite with them; they were to advance by the road, and
when they reached the level to ground arms (3). Meanwhile the Argive
Archagoras arrived, in full flight, with the announcement that they
had been dislodged from the first ridge, and that Cephisodorus and
Amphicrates were slain, with a number of others besides, all in fact
who had not jumped down the crags and so reached the rearguard. After
this achievement the barbarians came to a crest facing the mamelon,
and Xenophon held a colloquy with them by means of an interpreter, to
negotiate a truce, and demanded back the dead bodies. These they
agreed to restore if he would not burn their houses, and to these
terms Xenophon agreed. Meanwhile, as the rest of the army filed past,
and the colloquy was proceeding, all the people of the place had time
to gather gradually, and the enemy formed; and as soon as the Hellenes
began to descend from the mamelon to join the others where the troops
were halted, on rushed the foe, in full force, with hue and cry. They 20
reached the summit of the mamelon from which Xenophon was descending,
and began rolling down crags. One man's leg was crushed to pieces.
Xenophon was left by his shield-bearer, who carried off his shield,
but Eurylochus of Lusia (4), an Arcadian hoplite, ran up to him, and
threw his shield in front to protect both of them; so the two together
beat a retreat, and so too the rest, and joined the serried ranks of
the main body.
(3) To take up position.
(4) I.e. of Lusi (or Lusia), a town (or district) in Northern Arcadia.
After this the whole Hellenic force united, and took up their quarters
there in numerous beautiful dwellings, with an ample store of
provisions, for there was wine so plentiful that they had it in
cemented cisterns. Xenophon and Cheirisophus arranged to recover the
dead, and in return restored the guide; afterwards they did everything
for the dead, according to the means at their disposal, with the
customary honours paid to good men.
Next day they set off without a guide; and the enemy, by keeping up a
continuous battle and occupying in advance every narrow place,
obstructed passage after passage. Accordingly, whenever the van was
obstructed, Xenophon, from behind, made a dash up the hills and broke
the barricade, and freed the vanguard by endeavouring to get above the
obstructing enemy. Whenever the rear was the point attacked,
Cheirisophus, in the same way, made a detour, and by endeavouring to
mount higher than the barricaders, freed the passage for the rear
rank; and in this way, turn and turn about, they rescued each other,
and paid unflinching attention to their mutual needs. At times it
happened that, the relief party having mounted, encountered
considerable annoyance in their descent from the barbarians, who were
so agile that they allowed them to come up quite close, before they
turned back, and still escaped, partly no doubt because the only
weapons they had to carry were bows and slings.
They were, moreover, excellent archers, using bows nearly three cubits
long and arrows more than two cubits. When discharging the arrow, they
draw the string by getting a purchase with the left foot planted 28
forward on the lower end of the bow. The arrows pierced through shield
and cuirass, and the Hellenes, when they got hold of them, used them
as javelins, fitting them to their thongs. In these districts the
Cretans were highly serviceable. They were under the command of
Stratocles, a Cretan.
III
During this day they bivouacked in the villages which lie above the 1
plain of the river Centrites (1), which is about two hundred feet
broad. It is the frontier river between Armenia and the country of the
Carduchians. Here the Hellenes recruited themselves, and the sight of
the plain filled them with joy, for the river was but six or seven
furlongs distant from the mountains of the Carduchians. For the moment
then they bivouacked right happily; they had their provisions, they
had also many memories of the labours that were now passed; seeing
that the last seven days spent in traversing the country of the
Carduchians had been one long continuous battle, which had cost them
more suffering than the whole of their troubles at the hands of the
king and Tissaphernes put together. As though they were truly quit of
them for ever, they laid their heads to rest in sweet content.
(1) I.e. the Eastern Tigris.
But with the morrow's dawn they espied horsemen at a certain point
across the river, armed cap-a-pie, as if they meant to dispute the
passage. Infantry, too, drawn up in line upon the banks above the
cavalry, threatened to prevent them debouching into Armenia. These
troops were Armenian and Mardian and Chaldaean mercenaries belonging
to Orontas and Artuchas. The last of the three, the Chaldaeans, were
said to be a free and brave set of people. They were armed with long
wicker shields and lances. The banks before named on which they were
drawn up were a hundred yards or more distant from the river, and the
single road which was visible was one leading upwards and looking like
a regular artificially constructed highway. At this point the Hellenes
endeavoured to cross, but on their making the attempt the water proved 6
to be more than breast-deep, and the river bed was rough with great
slippery stones, and as to holding their arms in the water, it was out
of the question--the stream swept them away--or if they tried to carry
them over the head, the body was left exposed to the arrows and other
missiles; accordingly they turned back and encamped there by the bank
of the river.
At the point where they had themselves been last night, up on the
mountains, they could see the Carduchians collected in large numbers
and under arms. A shadow of deep despair again descended on their
souls, whichever way they turned their eyes--in front lay the river so
difficult to ford; over, on the other side, a new enemy threatening to
bar the passage; on the hills behind, the Carduchians ready to fall
upon their rear should they once again attempt to cross. Thus for this
day and night they halted, sunk in perplexity. But Xenophon had a
dream. In his sleep he thought that he was bound in fetters, but
these, of their own accord, fell from off him, so that he was loosed,
and could stretch his legs as freely as he wished (2). So at the first
glimpse of daylight he came to Cheirisophus and told him that he had
hopes that all things would go well, and related to him his dream.
(2) It is impossible to give the true sense and humour of the passage
in English, depending, as it does, on the double meaning of
{diabainein} (1) to cross (a river), (2) to stride or straddle (of
the legs). The army is unable to cross the Centrites; Xenophon
dreams that he is fettered, but the chains drop off his legs and
he is able to stride as freely as ever; next morning the two young
men come to him with the story how they have found themselves able
to walk cross the river instead of having to swim it. It is
obvious to Xenophon that the dream is sent from Heaven.
The other was well pleased, and with the first faint gleam of dawn the
generals all were present and did sacrifice; and the victims were
favourable in the first essay. Retiring from the sacrifice, the
generals and officers issued an order to the troops to take their
breakfasts; and while Xenophon was taking his, two young men came
running up to him, for every one knew that, breakfasting or supping,
he was always accessible, or that even if asleep any one was welcome
to awaken him who had anything to say bearing on the business of war. 10
What the two young men had at this time to say was that they had been
collecting brushwood for fire, and had presently espied on the
opposite side, in among some rocks which came down to the river's
brink, an old man and some women and little girls depositing, as it
would appear, bags of clothes in a cavernous rock. When they saw them,
it struck them that it was safe to cross; in any case the enemy's
cavalry could not approach at this point. So they stripped naked,
expecting to have to swim for it, and with their long knives in their
hands began crossing, but going forward crossed without being wet up
to the fork. Once across they captured the clothes, and came back
again.
Accordingly Xenophon at once poured out a libation himself, and bade
the two young fellows fill the cup and pray to the gods, who showed to
him this vision and to them a passage, to bring all other blessings
for them to accomplishment. When he had poured out the libation, he at
once led the two young men to Cheirisophus, and they repeated to him
their story. Cheirisophus, on hearing it, offered libations also, and
when they had performed them, they sent a general order to the troops
to pack up ready for starting, while they themselves called a meeting
of the generals and took counsel how they might best effect a passage,
so as to overpower the enemy in front without suffering any loss from
the men behind. And they resolved that Cheirisophus should lead the
van and cross with half the army, the other half still remaining
behind under Xenophon, while the baggage animals and the mob of
sutlers were to cross between the two divisions.
When all was duly ordered the move began, the young men pioneering
them, and keeping the river on their left. It was about four furlongs'
march to the crossing, and as they moved along the bank, the squadrons
of cavalry kept pace with them on the opposite side.
But when they had reached a point in a line with the ford, and the
cliff-like banks of the river, they grounded arms, and first
Cheirisophus himself placed a wreath upon his brows, and throwing off 17
his cloak (3), resumed his arms, passing the order to all the rest to
do the same, and bade the captains form their companies in open order
in deep columns, some to left and some to right of himself. Meanwhile
the soothsayers were slaying a victim over the river, and the enemy
were letting fly their arrows and slingstones; but as yet they were
out of range. As soon as the victims were favourable, all the soldiers
began singing the battle hymn, and with the notes of the paean mingled
the shouting of the men accompanied by the shriller chant of the
women, for there were many women (4) in the camp.
(3) Or, "having doffed it," i.e. the wreath, an action which the
soldiers would perform symbolically, if Grote is right in his
interpretation of the passage, "Hist. of Greece," vol. ix. p. 137.
(4) Lit. "comrade-women."