Anabasis
Proxenus, his friend, who was killed with Clearchus. The gift for
Artemis of the Ephesians was, in the first instance, left behind by
him in Asia at the time when he left that part of the world himself
with Agesilaus on the march into Boeotia (3). He left it behind in
charge of Megabyzus, the sacristan of the goddess, thinking that the
voyage on which he was starting was fraught with danger. In the event
of his coming out of it alive, he charged Megabyzus to restore to him
the deposit; but should any evil happen to him, then he was to cause
to be made and to dedicate on his behalf to Artemis, whatsoever thing
he thought would be pleasing to the goddess.
(2) Cf. Herod. i. 14; Strabo. ix. 420 for such private treasuries at
Delphi.
(3) I.e. in the year B.C. 394. The circumstances under which Agesilaus
was recalled from Asia, with the details of his march and the
battle of Coronea, are described by Xenophon in the fourth book of
the "Hellenica."
In the days of his banishment, when Xenophon was now established by
the Lacedaemonians as a colonist in Scillus (4), a place which lies on 7
the main road to Olympia, Megabyzus arrived on his way to Olympia as a
spectator to attend the games, and restored to him the deposit.
Xenophon took the money and bought for the goddess a plot of ground at
a point indicated to him by the oracle. The plot, it so happened, had
its own Selinus river flowing through it, just as at Ephesus the river
Selinus flows past the temple of Artemis, and in both streams fish and
mussels are to be found. On the estate at Scillus there is hunting and
shooting of all the beasts of the chase that are.
(4) Scillus, a town of Triphylia, a district of Elis. In B.C. 572 the
Eleians had razed Pisa and Scillus to the ground. But between B.C.
392 and 387 the Lacedaemonians, having previously (B.C. 400,
"Hell." III. ii. 30) compelled the Eleians to renounce their
supremacy over their dependent cities, colonised Scillus and
eventually gave it to Xenophon, then an exile from Athens.
Xenophon resided here from fifteen to twenty years, but was, it is
said, expelled from it by the Eleians soon after the battle of
Leuctra, in B.C. 371.--"Dict. Geog. (s.v.)" The site of the place,
and of Xenophon's temple, is supposed to be in the neighbourhood
of the modern village of Chrestena, or possibly nearer Mazi. To
reach Olympia, about 2 1/2 miles distant, one must cross the
Alpheus.
Here with the sacred money he built an altar and a temple, and ever
after, year by year, tithed the fruits of the land in their season and
did sacrifice to the goddess, while all the citizens and neighbours,
men and women, shared in the festival. The goddess herself provided
for the banqueters meat and loaves and wine and sweetmeats, with
portions of the victims sacrificed from the sacred pasture, as also of
those which were slain in the chase; for Xenophon's own lads, with the
lads of the other citizens, always made a hunting excursion against
the festival day, in which any grown men who liked might join. The
game was captured partly from the sacred district itself, partly from
Pholoe (5), pigs and gazelles and stags. The place lies on the direct
road from Lacedaemon to Olympia, about twenty furlongs from the temple
of Zeus in Olympia, and within the sacred enclosure there is
meadow-land and wood-covered hills, suited to the breeding of pigs and
goats and cattle and horses, so that even the sumpter animals of the
pilgrims passing to the feast fare sumptuously. The shrine is girdled
by a grove of cultivated trees, yielding dessert fruits in their
season. The temple itself is a facsimile on a small scale of the great
temple at Ephesus, and the image of the goddess is like the golden
statue at Ephesus, save only that it is made, not of gold, but of
cypress wood. Beside the temple stands a column bearing this
inscription:--THE PLACE IS SACRED TO ARTEMIS. HE WHO HOLDS IT AND
ENJOYS THE FRUITS OF IT IS BOUND TO SACRIFICE YEARLY A TITHE OF THE 13
PRODUCE. AND FROM THE RESIDUE THEREOF TO KEEP IN REPAIR THE SHRINE. IF
ANY MAN FAIL IN AUGHT OF THIS THE GODDESS HERSELF WILL LOOK TO IT THAT
THE MATTER SHALL NOT SLEEP.
(5) Pholoe. This mountain (north of the Alpheus) is an offshoot of
Erymanthus, crossing the Pisatis from east to west, and separating
the waters of the Peneus and the Ladon from those of the Alpheus
--"Dict. Geog." (Elis).
IV
From Cerasus they continued the march, the same portion of the troops 1
being conveyed by sea as before, and the rest marching by land. When
they had reached the frontiers of the Mossynoecians (1) they sent to
him Timesitheus the Trapezuntine, who was the proxenos (2) of the
Mossynoecians, to inquire whether they were to pass through their
territory as friends or foes. They, trusting in their strongholds,
replied that they would not give them passage. It was then that
Timesitheus informed them that the Mossynoecians on the farther side
of the country were hostile to these members of the tribe; and it was
resolved to invite the former to make an alliance, if they wished it.
So Timesitheus was sent, and came back with their chiefs. On their
arrival there was a conference of the Mossynoecian chiefs and the
generals of the Hellenes, and Xenophon made a speech which Timesitheus
interpreted. He said: "Men of the Mossynoecians, our desire is to
reach Hellas in safety; and since we have no vessels we must needs go
by foot, but these people who, as we hear, are your enemies, prevent
us. Will you take us for your allies? Now is your chance to exact
vengeance for any wrong, which they at any time may have put upon you,
and for the future they will be your subjects; but if you send us
about our business, consider and ask yourselves from what quarter will
you ever again obtain so strong a force to help you?" To this the
chief of the Mossynoecians made answer:--that the proposal was in
accordance with their wishes and they welcomed the alliance. "Good,"
said Xenophon, "but to what use do you propose to put us, if we become
your allies? And what will you in turn be able to do to assist our
passage?" They replied: "We can make an incursion into this country
hostile to yourselves and us, from the opposite side, and also send 10
you ships and men to this place, who will aid you in fighting and
conduct you on the road."
(1) I.e. dwellers in mossyns, or wooden towers. See Herod. iii. 94;
vii. 78. Cf. also Strabo, xi. 41.
(2) Or, "consul."
On this understanding, they exchanged pledges and were gone. The next
day they returned, bringing three hundred canoes, each hollowed out of
a single trunk. There were three men in each, two of whom disembarked
and fell into rank, whilst the third remained. Then the one set took
the boats and sailed back again, whilst the other two-thirds who
remained marshalled themselves in the following way. They stood in
rows of about a hundred each, like the rows of dancers in a chorus,
standing vis-a-vis to one another, and all bearing wicker shields,
made of white oxhide, shaggy, and shaped like an ivy leaf; in the
right hand they brandished a javelin about six cubits long, with a
lance in front, and rounded like a ball at the butt end of the shaft.
Their bodies were clad in short frocks, scarcely reaching to the knees
and in texture closely resembling that of a linen bedclothes' bag; on
their heads they wore leathern helmets just like the Paphlagonian
helmet, with a tuft of hair in the middle, as like a tiara in shape as
possible. They carried moreover iron battle-axes. Then one of them
gave, as it were, the key-note and started, while the rest, taking up
the strain and the step, followed singing and marking time. Passing
through the various corps and heavy armed battalions of the Hellenes,
they marched straight against the enemy, to what appeared the most
assailable of his fortresses. It was situated in front of the city, or
mother city, as it is called, which latter contains the high citadel
of the Mossynoecians. This citadel was the real bone of contention,
the occupants at any time being acknowledged as the masters of all the
other Mossynoecians. The present holders (so it was explained) had no
right to its possession; for the sake of self-aggrandisement they had
seized what was really common property.
Some of the Hellenes followed the attacking party, not under the
orders of the generals, but for the sake of plunder. As they advanced,
the enemy for a while kept quiet; but as they got near the place, they 16
made a sortie and routed them, killing several of the barbarians as
well as some of the Hellenes who had gone up with them; and so pursued
them until they saw the Hellenes advancing to the rescue. Then they
turned round and made off, first cutting off the heads of the dead men
and flaunting them in the face of the Hellenes and of their own
private foes, dancing the while and singing in a measured strain. But
the Hellenes were much vexed to think that their foes had only been
rendered bolder, while the Hellenes who had formed part of the
expedition had turned tail and fled, in spite of their numbers; a
thing which had not happened previously during the whole expedition.
So Xenophon called a meeting of the Hellenes and spoke as follows:
"Soldiers, do not in any wise be cast down by what has happened, be
sure that good no less than evil will be the result; for to begin
with, you now know certainly that those who are going to guide us are
in very deed hostile to those with whom necessity drives us to
quarrel; and, in the next place, some of our own body, these Hellenes
who have made so light of orderly array and conjoint action with
ourselves, as though they must needs achieve in the company of
barbarians all they could with ourselves, have paid the penalty and
been taught a lesson, so that another time they will be less prone to
leave our ranks. But you must be prepared to show these friendly
barbarians that you are of a better sort, and prove to the enemy that
battle with the undisciplined is one thing, but with men like
yourselves another."
Accordingly they halted, as they were, that day. Next day they
sacrificed and finding the victims favourable, they breakfasted,
formed the companies into columns, and with their barbarians arranged
in similar order on their left, began their march. Between the
companies were the archers only slightly retired behind the front of
the heavy infantry, on account of the enemy's active light troops, who
ran down and kept up volleys of stones. These were held in check by
the archers and peltasts; and steadily step by step the mass marched
on, first to the position from which the barbarians and those with
them had been driven two days back, and where the enemy were now drawn 23
up to meet them. Thus it came to pass that the barbarians first
grappled with the peltasts and maintained the battle until the heavy
infantry were close, when they turned and fled. The peltasts followed
without delay, and pursued them right up to their city, while the
heavy troops in unbroken order followed. As soon as they were up at
the houses of the capital, there and then the enemy, collecting all
together in one strong body, fought valiantly, and hurled their
javelins, or else clenched their long stout spears, almost too heavy
for a man to wield, and did their best to ward off the attack at close
quarters.
But when the Hellenes, instead of giving way, kept massing together
more thickly, the barbarians fled from this place also, and in a body
deserted the fortress. Their king, who sat in his wooden tower or
mossyn, built on the citadel (there he sits and there they maintain
him, all at the common cost, and guard him narrowly), refused to come